The Scale of Anubis
by dave-d
Summary: A mission pulls Sousuke away when Kaname needs him the most. Her reaction causes him to take stock of his life.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This can be considered to have occured at some point before 'Christmas Cake' and be in the same continuity of that storyline.

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The Nile River.  
  
Once the bread basket of humanity, the murky river looked unpalatable and uninviting.  
  
Small boats were propelled here and there, the craft of hopeful anchovy fishermen. No other large traffic was visible. Crocodiles basked forebodingly on the shores, paying no heed to the hippos who disappeared beneath the rippled surface as the Mithril barge grew near.  
  
Sousuke's thoughts were as dark as the churning water pushed away by the ponderous craft and its decrepit looking tug. The ECS system was functioning well, meaning that he and the cargo were invisible. However, the process did not work in reverse. While his view was not restricted, there was nothing he wanted to look at.  
  
In the past, he would have loved a chance to visit either of the two sites targeted for this mission. But today, his heart just was not in it.  
  
The way he felt that moment, he wondered if it mattered one way or another.  
  
The two Mithril teams had initially been inserted over land, a good distance above the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser. The huge artificial body of water---480 km in total length---was a potential terrorist target of immense destructive power, bit little political likelihood. Should the Aswan Dan be destroyed, the unfathomable deluge of accumulated water could flood all of Egypt. It was not the focus of their concern.  
  
Egypt had come to the Camp David accords because of the dam---Israel had marked it as a target of great worth. Mithril had stopped one terrorist plot targeting the dam in the past, early in Sousuke's career. The massive artifice was to have been booby tapped by anti-Israeli forces intent on framing that nation. The yound soldier had lost a number of team members who had befriended him. That was not the reason for his gloomy countenance.  
  
"Hey Sis, look! The Sphinx!" Kurz flounced his hair, swinging it in Melissa's face. She grabbed her combat knife, struck with a sudden urge to give her flamboyant team member a crew cut. Kurz was pointing at Sousuke.  
  
"How does the Sphinx smell without a nose?" The young sniper waved his arms, trying to get someone to respond. The men working on the deck of the barge either didn't speak the language, or didn't want anything to do with the noisy soldier.  
  
Neither Sousuke nor Melissa took the bait.  
  
That only encouraged Kurz all the more.  
  
"_Terrible._" He looked on expectantly. No one laughed. But, that didn't matter. Everything provided one kind of opportunity or another. He sidled up next to Sgt. Major Mao, a lascivious look on his face.  
  
"Babe, if your not going to laugh at my jokes, I have another way to pass the time. You. Me. A lot of moaning and groaning." He made a gyrating motion with his pelvis, then pumped his fist.  
  
"Weber, you are a horse's ass. I retract that. I _like_ horses. You are a f-cking hippo's ass." Melissa spat into the river. "We can do that moaning and groaning thing if you like." She showed him her blade. "I'm not a surgeon, but I think I can get your balls off without too much blood loss."  
  
Kurz wasn't certain whether or not Sgt. Major Mao was joking. She probably was, but there were a number of things he refused to risk on a 'probably.' He walked over to stand in front of Sousuke.  
  
"Sousuke, old chum. How about you and I wrap nasty old Mao in some bandages. We can make a fortune selling her as a mummy. She's dried up... stiff... and no fun at all. Who would notice any difference?"  
  
Sousuke didn't even bother to look up from the equipment bundle he sat on.  
  
"We could trade her to a Bedouin. They like things with humps... a real bad attitude...and a tendency to spit or bite. But, it might be easier for them to take care of a camel instead." Kurz ducked under a roundhouse kick. "Maybe we can get a couple of dancing girls in return."  
  
"Leave Sousuke alone, Weber. You know he's not his usual self today. Just give him some space. It's time for you and I to prep our M9s. You don't have any time to spare, since you'll be prepping his too!" She threw her cigarette into the Nile.  
  
"C'mon, Sis! He's a big strong boy. I'm certain he can handle it. It might even do him some good. You never pamper _me_ like that!" Kurz followed on Melissa's heels. "I could use some babying too, you know." He reached a hand around towards Melissa's front. "I'm partial to breast feeding."  
  
The last think Sousuke heard from them then was a shout of pain from Kurz.  
  
A flight of birds flew overhead. Absentmindedly, the young soldier watched as they darted down close to the water, wheeling away as if they were one large animal. Sousuke sighed. He envied them their freedom.  
  
They were not burdened by emotions.  
  
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The briefing had taken place aboard the TDD-1.  
  
Sousuke had been pulled away from Tokyo during mid terms. His final grades would not prove to be a problem. The contributions that Mithril made to Jindai High School would make certain of that. It necessary, a little more coukd be added to sweeten the pot.  
  
Kaname had not been happy.  
  
She had gone to a lot of trouble to cook Sousuke's favorite dishes. She had put together a study planner so she could help Sousuke prepare. Moments before he knocked on her door, the recall message came in. It was a high priority signal. There could be no delay.  
  
He gave Kaname the bad news over his cellular phone.  
  
She hung up during his explanation.  
  
A mushroom was the cause of all the trouble. _Amanita bisporigera_. 'The Destroying Angel.' An oxymoron of sorts. The nondescript fleshy white parasol was one of the most dangerous saprophytes on earth---one bite of the mushroom could kill a healthy adult, thanks to a heavy concentration of the cyclic peptide Amanitin  
  
Sousuke learned that the poison is almost always fatal, with the death being a very unpleasant one. Severe abdominal pains would soon be followed by liver, kidney, and circulatory system failure. There was no antidote.  
  
Nothing would prevent the terrible suffering.  
  
Usually, the only unfortunate victims of that mushroom were campers and hikers in North American who foolishly trusted their mushroom lore, mistaking the button stage of the mushroom for similar edible fungi. However, distressing news had been brought to Mithril's attention by means of the Israelis. A terrorist group had set up facilities to grow huge numbers of mushrooms.  
  
Their aim was unclear, but their method was clear enough.  
  
Large underground caverns had been built underneath a number of archeological treasures, the last place that the perpetrators would expect anyone would look without cause or provocation. The builders had planned ahead, working towards some unknown future opportunity.  
  
When the formation of Lake Nasser threatened to submerge the wonders of Abu Simbel, the miraculous temple was cut up into huge blocks and moved to higher ground. Secret facilities were built during that procedure, with the hidden knowledge passed from one underground sect to another over the years.  
  
A use had been found.  
  
The other man-made cavern was built beneath the ruins of Deir al-Madinah, an ancient Egyptian village that was once the home to the artisans who were responsible for building the Great pyramids. It had once been called Set Maat her imenty Waset, '_The place of Maat_.'  
  
By extension, the older name meant "_place of truth_." In actuality, it was now a den of the darkest deceit. The villagers had once worshipped Meretseger, the Cobra-goddess who guarded the Valley of Kings. That was apropos.  
  
Poison was no stranger to the region.  
  
Sousuke's troubles had only started when he left for Da Danaan. They became worse when he flew back to Tokyo, awaiting word of successful mission preparations. While time was not on Mithril's side, they had to work through clandestine political channels.  
  
Consequently, there was no telling how long he would have in Japan. He would by necessity be flown back to the TDD-1 as soon as he was needed. There was no margin for error, so there could be no unnecessary delay. .  
  
Even one escaping truck loaded with mushrooms could cause deaths on an unimaginable scale.  
  
Melissa had made it a point to coach Sousuke. She told him to buy Kaname flowers. She suggested a gold pendant or bracelet as well. Those, and honesty. It wasn't his fault that he had to leave for the briefing.  
  
Kurz had told him to get her drunk and explore the true depths of her feelings. He spent the rest of the day walking funny, thanks to his squad leader.  
  
Sousuke eventually found himself outside of Kaname's door. For some reason, his heart was pounding in his chest. Perhaps he was worried about the choice of gifts. He had thrilled a local jeweler by purchasing some nice items. The cost was immaterial. Kaname was important to him.  
  
But, this wasn't the first time he had decided to give her jewelry. He remembered handing her a locator bracelet and a pair of flash bang earrings.  
  
_That had not gone well._  
  
He wanted things to go better this time. While he did not entirely understand his feelings for his classmate, he knew that he felt good when she was happy with him, and felt terrible when she was angry.  
  
He knocked on the door.  
  
No one answered.  
  
Was she in? Had she looked through the security port hole and decided to leave him standing there? Could she be with someone else?  
  
He knocked again.  
  
Still no answer.  
  
Sousuke had come over the first moment he could, but realized that there really was no reason to rush. What had prompted him to stop by her apartment now? He had gear to stow, and other items to get ready.  
  
He turned to leave.  
  
The door opened.  
  
Kaname's face was red and her blouse was soaked with tears. Her hair was a mess. She looked frantic.  
  
"You're back already, Sousuke. Only two days. Good. I need your help. Please." She was obviously terribly upset about something. She had an armful of clothing.  
  
"Kaname?" Sousuke watched her drop a bra here...a T-shirt there...and socks at multiple sites... as she walked aimlessly between the door and points unknown.  
  
"I have my ticket. I bought a second one just in case you made it back in time. Our flight leaves in three hours. I'm glad you're here." She was trying to sound calm and collected, but her voice cracked repeatedly.  
  
"Flight, Kaname? But I...."  
  
"We need to get to New York City as quickly as possible. I don't just need a bodyguard now Sousuke; I need a friend. It's Ayame." At the mention of her sister's name, the tears flowed again.  
  
"What..."  
  
"She's sick, Sousuke. Very sick. The doctors don't know if she'll make it." Kaname walked over to him, looked up into his eyes. There's no time to waste. Did you unpack? If not, that's great--- you'll be ready to go."  
  
Kaname was actually trembling. Sousuke did not know what to do. He was so used to her strength and resilience.  
  
"I cannot go, Kaname." The words hung between the two of them like unexploded ordinance.  
  
The look on Kaname's face was one of disbelief.  
  
"Sousuke? What do you mean? I need your help." Her voice was plaintive. She had never allowed anyone to see her this vulnerable before.  
  
"The mission is not over, Kaname. That was just the briefing. I am on standby. I cannot leave the safe house." Sousuke felt terrible. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with---he had felt this way in battle before, when he was forced to leave wounded comrades behind in order to assure that the objectives were met.  
  
"But..." Kaname dropped every single item she had been carrying. She looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.  
  
"I am sorry, Kaname." Sousuke felt as if he was torn in two. He might not be the most compassionate person, but Kaname's pain was hurting him too.  
  
"Sorry?" The word carried with it a sense of total numbness. That would soon change.  
  
"Yes. I would...."  
  
"You would WHAT???" Kaname's eyes flashed, only slightly dulled by her fear and concern.  
  
"I need your help more than ever. Are you saying that your are going to abandon me?" All of Kaname's insecurities converged. For that moment in time, it felt as if Sousuke was the cause of them all.  
  
"Kaname, I do not have a choice. There are millions of lives in danger." At that moment, Kaname's understanding was very important to Sousuke. She had to realize that he would never willingly fail her.  
  
"There are _always_ millions of lives in danger, Sousuke." Kaname was not in the mood to be reasonable. "I only have ONE sister." Her face crumbled. She felt helpless and alone. Those were not feelings that Kaname Chidori was allowed to have.  
  
"But---"  
  
"I need your help. Don't you understand that? I need you to help me. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"  
  
"I understand, Kaname." Sousuke clearly looked upset himself now. If Kaname had been in a rational state, she might even have marveled at that. "But, I am not a doctor. I cannot cure your sister."  
  
Kaname took a step back. She looked at Sousuke as if she was seeing him for the first time and didn't like what she saw. Setting her jaw, she began picking up her clothes.  
  
"Please, Kaname. There is no antidote for the poison of the Destroying Angel mushroom. If the mission fails, many will die a hideously painful death." Sousuke was not exaggerating. Water supplies of big cities were notoriously vulnerable. The catastrophe could be enormous.  
  
"A mushroom, Sousuke. A damn mushroom." She threw the clothes violently into an open suitcase. "You choose _that _over Ayame? You can't be serious." Sousuke had never met her sister, but that was immaterial.  
  
Nothing Sousuke said made any head way. He placed the beautifully wrapped jewelry and the exquisite bouquet of flowers on the floor inside of Kaname's door.  
  
She kicked the gifts out into the hallway.  
  
That act had relatively little impact compared to her final words.  
  
"I don't want to loose my sister. Maybe there can be a trade. I wish _you_ were dead instead."  
  
The slamming door carried with it a terrible sense of finality.  
  
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Sousuke watched the children playing down by the river's edge. The barge was passing through a heavily populated region, now. The youths cavorted and splashed into the water, seemingly unconcerned about the dangers around them. The crocodiles remained still, but alert. A lone hippopotamus watched them, flicking its ears, ready to flee if necessary. An emaciated jackal ran out of cover, grabbed a dead fish, then disappeared.  
  
Life and death.  
  
The Nile brought life. The great river also brought death. Would any of those children meet an untimely end?  
  
Would Kaname's sister?  
  
He shook his head hard. It wasn't his fault that Ayame was stricken. She had bacterial meningitis, an infection of the membranes that line the brain and spinal cord. About 20% of such cases were fatal. Some survivors suffered significant complications, such as deafness, mental deterioration, or epilepsy. The bacteria were passed from one person to another by respiratory secretions sneezed or coughed up by an infected person.  
  
He wasn't infected.  
  
He had not even met Kaname's sister.  
  
His emotions were confounding him. He did not need that with a battle approaching. Especially, this battle. The threat to the civilized world was staggering. The value of the ruins they would be fighting near was astronomical. He would rather take serious injuries himself, then see even a single chip of stone removed from the ancient temples and other edifices.  
  
Kaname.  
  
He pictured the blue-haired girl walking away from him. She never looked back. Not once.  
  
Sitting on the creaking barge, brushing away flies and inundated with the scent of tar and mildewed tarps, he had begun to come to terms with what she must mean to him. Recently, he had begun to modify his behavior, trying to please her. He would gladly give his own life, to keep her from harm. If he could have, he would have gone with her to the States. The lives of the many outweighed the lives of the few, or the one.  
  
He understood her priorities.  
  
He had hoped that she would accept his.  
  
_'I wish you were dead instead.'  
_  
Those words had been spoken in the heat of the moment, spurred on by anger, frustration, and fear. Sousuke knew that Kaname did not literally mean what she had said. But the words had already started a snowball rolling down the hill. Sousuke's thoughts had subsequently become a huge rampaging sphere of ice. They threatened to become an avalanche. The analogy seemed out of place, with the relentless sun bearing down on the young soldier's towel- covered head.  
  
Sousuke thought about life. The meaning of life. The uncertainty of life.  
  
As the ponderous barge began to navigate a bend in the river, the children passed out of sight. It was as if they never existed, or were merely phantoms conjured up by his mind. Just like his own brother and sister, dead all these years, murdered by Russian soldiers in Afghanistan. He couldn't make out their faces, no matter how he tried. He somehow felt he had failed them, as a result.  
  
Had they truly existed?  
  
What might his life be like if they were still alive?  
  
Scraping tar off of the soles of his boots with his well-worn combat knife, he grew strangely morbid. Could this be time? What would Kaname feel if he died? How might she feel after speaking the words she did?  
  
Just what would be his legacy? It was something he had never asked himself before. Had he made a difference in the world? His actions help create or preserve peace and prosperity, there was no doubt of that. But, wasn't he also in effect a destroyer, a bringer of death and pain?  
  
Had he done anything that made Kaname's life better?  
  
Should he have done things differently?  
  
What would he change if he were given the choice?  
  
There were bricks being used to hold down the tarps spread over the slumbering Arm Slaves. Standing up, Sousuke began picking up the bricks, heaving them as far as he could out into the river. He followed their arc, his eyes squinting in the noonday sun. Their flight was brief. They disappeared from view with a splash, never to be seen again.  
  
How many people had even known those bricks existed?  
  
Would anyone care that they were gone?  
  
They never had the opportunity to be used to their fullest potential.  
  
_'I want to make a trade.'  
_  
There was no bargaining with death. Sousuke knew that. When it was time, the darkness would descend. No matter how good a man's deeds, he would die. No matter how far his evil reached, his days would end. The only way he might live on was in the hearts and minds of others.  
  
Sousuke was a fan of legends and mythology. Brooding on death---sitting on a barge in the middle of Egypt---he thought of Anubis, the ancient god of death and dying. The great jackal-headed deity was known as _The Guardian of the Dead_. He had once been the lord of the underworld, but allowed Osiris to take that position out of respect.  
  
Ancient Egyptians saw death as the start of a perilous journey, rather than the end of life. In order to reach the land where the gods dwelt---and to live among them---they had believed that they must first traverse the land of the dead.  
  
Each '_Book Of The Dead'_ was tailored to some extent for the individual making the journey. It contained the spells and hymns felt to be most appropriate to the life that person had led, as well as a collection of speeches and entreaties that would be used in attempts to pass the tests they would face during their journey.  
  
The most crucial test was the Weighing of the Heart.  
  
To those long-dead people, the heart had been viewd as a book---it recorded all of the deeds of a person's life, good and bad. In the _Hall of Judgement_, the data would be analyzed during an official ceremony'  
  
Anubis would lead the deceased into the Hall. The deceased's heart would be placed on one of the pans of a scale, to be weighed against the goddess Maat's Feather of Truth. Anubis would adjust the plummet, seeing if the heart was sinful, weighing more than the feather. Thoth would record the verdict. The deceased would be led by Horus before Osiris, if the verdict had been rendered in his or her favor. If, instead, the verdict went against the petitioner, he would be given to the Devourer, the _Eater of Hearts_.  
  
Sousuke thought about Ammut, the Devourer.  
  
She had a demon to the Ancients. More accurately, she was the demoness of punishment. For a moment, he pictured her with Kaname's face, instead of her usual crocodile's head Would Kaname judge his heart to be heavy with sin? Would she wish the final death for him?  
  
He blinked hard, and the vision cleared.  
  
One thing was for certain, he would never mention that thought to Kaname. He would have to explain that the demoness had the mid portion of a lion. She might not take offense at that. He knew exactly what would happen if he told her that the Eater of Hearts had the hind quarters of a hippopotamus.  
  
Sousuke did not have a Book of the Dead. That did not stop him from thinking back on his life. He began to take a tally of his good and bad deeds.  
  
Would he find himself worthy?  
  
Would Kaname?  
  
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Sousuke stood near the edge of the barge, hand above his eye. In the heat of the day, the images in the distance wavered, looking tenuous and uncertain. They were not far from their destination, or at least the point where they would leave the water.  
  
He would need to get into his pilot suit soon. That was a necessity. Getting his thoughts in order would be important, too. He should do that now. If he pushed ahead with his recriminations purposefully and voluntarily, there was less chance of random and crippling thoughts tripping him up at an inopportune time.  
  
The final briefing had gone smoothly, from a professional standpoint. He, Sgt. Major Mao, and Sgt. Weber would escort one squad of ground troops to Abu Simbel.  
  
If they were fortunate, there would be no Arm Slaves or other vehicles requiring their special attention. In that case, they would stand guard and mop up any external resistance. They had no idea what to expect. Little was known about the monetary wealth of the terrorists or their potential backers. Even less was known about their total manpower, equipment resources, or alliances.  
  
Kurz once again made a disruptive spectacle of himself near the end of the meeting. Threats from Melissa did not blunt his irreverence or diffuse his jocularity. Sousuke, without a trace of humor pr intent, had provided the key to his comrade's subsequent come uppence..  
  
"Sgt. Weber, as you are no doubt aware, we are in Egypt. I would suggest you do not anger the Sgt. Major. The stories in this country are rather colorful. The outcomes are often quite drastic." Sousuke was becoming a good student of both Kurz and Melissa. In combat, he knew how to play to their strengths and weaknesses. He was learning to do the same with their squabbles.  
  
"Sousuke, you truly need to lighten up a bit. Life is for the living. There is plenty of time for order and propriety after we die. Life's a story. It's what you write that counts, not how the tale ends!" Kurz had a beer in his hand. That might be the greatest danger he would face on this mission.  
  
Drinking before a mission was verboten. Stealing Melissa's beer was tantamount to a death sentence. The Sgt. Major had been the only one with the foresight to bring along post-fight libations.  
  
"Besides, the stories you are talking about are so old, you would need to spend a whole week just blowing the dust off of them! What possible lesson could they hold for the magnificent Kurz Weber?" He looked at the empty can in his palm. Should he toss it into the passing water, or parade it before Melissa?  
  
"I shall let you decide. I will merely speak of the god Osiris." Sousuke's voice became deeper and smoother than usual, as if some movie drector was using him for a voice over.  
  
"He was the deity of life, death, and rebirth. The great-grandson of Ra, he sat upon the throne of the gods, ruling over the living world as Ra ruled over the gods. He was the first Pharaoh, and his Queen, Isis, was the first Queen. They ruled for many ages together, when the world was still young. His ways were just and upright. All peoples praised Osiris and Isis, and peace reigned over all, for that was the Golden Age."  
  
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with this story. I think I like this Osiris dude. Reminds me a lot of...well... _me_." Kurz laughed. He was still undecided about the beer can.  
  
"Yet there was trouble. Proud Set---the brother of Osiri, and the one who defended the Sun Boat from Apep the Destroyer---was unsettled in his heart." Sousuke's cadence was uncharacteristically captivating. Kurz managed to stand still for more than a minute at a time.  
  
"He coveted the throne of Osiris. He coveted Isis. He coveted the power over the living world. He desired to take all that from his brother. He built a box and inscribed it with wicked magic that would chain anyone who entered it from escaping."  
  
"Wow. That's one nasty son-of-a-bitch," Kurz said, belching. The smell of beer wafted about the impromptu meeting area, situated under the tarp and between to of the M9s. "Sound a lot like Sis, here." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of an approaching Melissa.  
  
"Set took the box to the great feast of the gods. He waited until Osiris had made himself drunk on much beer, then challenged Osiris to a contest of strength." Sousuke stopped and stared at the beer can that Kurz held.  
  
"Each one in turn would enter the box, and attempt, through sheer strength, to break it open. Osiris, sure in his power yet feeble in mind because of his drink, entered the box. Set quickly poured molten lead into the box. Osiris tried to escape, but the wicked magic held him tightly bound and he died. Set then picked up the box and hurled it into the Nile where it floated away. Set claimed the throne of Osiris for himself and demanded that Isis be his Queen. None of the other gods dared to stand against him, for he had killed Osiris and could easily do the same to them. Great Ra turned his head aside and mourned, yet he did not stand against Set."  
  
"You see, Kurzie poo. There _is_ a danger in drinking beer." Melissa put a hand on the blond soldier's shoulder. "It doesn't help being a feeble- minded cretin to start with either, right?"  
  
Kurz threw the beer can into the Nile. He held his empty hands up in front of Melissa and smiled.  
  
"That was a dark time. Set was everything his brother was not. He was cruel and unkind. War divided Egypt, and all was lawless while Set ruled. In vain the people cried to Ra, but his heart was hardened by grief, and he would not listen." Sousuke continued with his tale, never missing a beat.  
  
"Just like Tessa," Kurz said. "She wouldn't listen. I told her I should be squad leader. I don't understand why she got all huffy when I told her that women were better as underlings. She must like it on top, eh Sousuke?" The ne'er-do-well laughed at his own joke. "I guess that makes you an _upperling_ too, right Sis?"  
  
Melissa cracked her knuckles. She practiced a few kicks.  
  
"Only Isis persevered---she was unafraid of Set. Mourning, she searched all of the Nile for the box containing the body. Finally she found it, lodged in a tamarisk bush that had turned into a mighty tree, for the power of Osiris still was in him, though he lay dead. She tore open the box and wept over the lifeless body of Osiris. She carried the box back to Egypt and placed it in the house of the gods. She cast a spell. The spirit of dead Osiris entered her and she conceived and birthed a son whose destiny it would be to avenge his father. She called the child Horus, and hid him on an island far away from the gaze of his uncle Set."  
  
"Damn, what fun is that? A baby, but no horizontal mambo? _Harsh! _"  
  
"The story's moving off course, Sousuke." Melissa smiled. "If Kurz was Osiris, who would mourn for him?"  
  
"Sousuke would? Right old chum?" Kurz put both arms across his chest and struck a pose.  
  
Sousuke opened his mouth, then stopped. The dark thoughts threatened to overwhelm him again. Would anyone weep over his loss, if he died this day?  
  
"I am just the story teller. I must maintain impartiality." Sousuke's statement drew a thumbs-up up sign from Melissa. He took no notice of it.  
  
"I shall resume the story. Isis went to wise Thoth, who knows all secrets, and implored his help. She asked him for magic that could bring Osiris back to life. Thoth was the lord of knowledge, and had brought himself into being by speaking his name. He searched through his magic. He knew that Osiris' spirit had departed his body and was lost. To restore Osiris, Thoth had to remake him so that his spirit would recognize him and rejoin...."  
  
Sousuke was interrupted.  
  
"Hey babe, after Sousuke gets done flapping his gums, how about you and I rejoin?" He looked lewdly at Melissa, enjoying her appearance in the form- fitting Arm Slave suit.  
  
"There's only one thing stopping me, stud!" Melissa licked her lips, knowing she could get Kurz' hopes up. The fall would be spectacular.  
  
"R-R-Really? Only one?" Kurz rubbed his hands together.  
  
"Yes. Just a single insignificant thing."  
  
"Oh yeh!!! Lay it on me, babe!" Kurz forced himself to breath slowly.  
  
"We can't 'rejoin' because we've never joined in the first place." He was teetering on the edge of the precipice now.  
  
"Sis!" Kurz' face was comical in its disappointment.  
  
"And the only way we will EVER join is over my dead body!" That was the push that should have sent him tumbling.  
  
"Really?" Kurz was made of strong stuff. He also didn't know enough to quit when he was behind.  
  
"Well, I'll hold you to that promise. I'll tell you how things will go later, so that you'll know---it _will_ be good for you. You know it!"  
  
"Well, if I can't hurt you then, I'd better do it now. Right?" A roundhouse kick sent Kurz hard against his M9. A mechanic above him dropped a spanner. It hit the blond sergeant on the head. "Sousuke, you better finish up while Kurz is still conscious."  
  
"Thoth and Isis together prepared the Ritual of Life. But, before Thoth could work the magic, cruel Set discovered them. He stole the body of Osiris and tore it into many pieces, scattering them throughout Egypt. He was sure that Osiris would never be reborn."  
  
"I think I like this Set character," Melissa laughed. "He had a wealth of good ideas."  
  
Kurz cringed.  
  
"Isis did not despair. She asked her sister Nephthys to guide her and help her find the pieces of Osiris. They searched far and wide, bringing each piece to Thoth that he might work magic upon it. When all the pieces were together, Thoth went to Anubis, lord of the dead. Anubis sewed the pieces back together, washed the entrails of Osiris, embalmed him wrapped him in linen, and cast the _Ritual of Life_. When Osiris' mouth was opened, his spirit reentered him and he lived again." Sousuke hung his head. He was finished.  
  
"Wow! I like the way that worked. Of course, that might mean someone could bring that crazy black-hearted bastard back!" Kurz didn't name names. No one wanted to hear the name 'Gauron' if it wasn't necessary.  
  
"So Sousuke, what was the thing that Kurz needed to worry about?" Melissa looked as if she had been cheated at a hand of cards. The young soldier better pony up.  
  
"Isis and Nepthys found every part but one." Sousuke said quietly.  
  
"And?" Melissa thought she knew the answer. She wanted Kurz to know it too.  
  
"His penis."  
  
"WHAT???" Kurz' eyes went big.  
  
"What's wrong with you Sousuke? Telling a tale like that!"  
  
"O, I kinda liked it, Kurzie. You've always told me you were a god among men, right?" Melissa slid her combat knife out of its sheath. "Now, let's talk about my beer...."  
  
It had done Sousuke some good seeing that exchange. It was a familiar thing, far away from home. The two soldiers were the closest thing he had to family.  
  
His thoughts turned to Kaname again, wondering how things were going with her family.  
  
If he were Osiris, would she be Set or Isis? If he returned safely, he would refrain from entering boxes or enclosed spaces. He would not stay around Kaname any time she had a knife in her hands.  
  
He would rather take his chances with Ammut.


	2. Chapter 2

The wind was gusting strongly when the large gangplank fell from the barge to the dusty shore. Luckily, there was not an overabundance of windblown sand close to the more heavily populated areas. The ECS was a masterpiece of technology, but could be defeated by some of God's simpler creations.  
  
The image of amorphous formless shapes walking through the streets of the quiet village might bring back superstitions regarding the ancient gods.  
  
It might very well draw the attention of the Egyptian government, or members of the targeted terrorist group.  
  
Melissa's M9 headed out first, its Bofors in hand and its primary systems set to infrared. Woe betide any hostile forces that might happen upon _her_ unawares. The first two troop carriers followed, their huge wheels churning up the dust as they sped on their way. Watchful men in the machine gun rings wore cloth over the mouths and noses. Goggles protected their eyes from the stinging particles  
  
Kurz trudged along next, a giant sniper rifle cradled in the grasp of his Arm Slave. Two more troop carriers preceded Sousuke, whose craft brought up the rear. His M9 was carrying a Hellbore flame cannon---if they came across any truck or vehicle carrying the mushrooms, he would end their threat once and for all.  
  
'We should bring stuff for Barbeque,' Kurz had said when they checked their provisions.  
  
Melissa had scorched his posterior with her butane lighter.  
  
ECS or no ECS, Sousuke felt somewhat naked without air cover. True, the Mithril soldiers all wore Egyptian Army uniforms---and the troop carriers were decked out in Egyptian colors and insignia---but they would be headed into places where standard troops would have no business venturing.  
  
Mithril may have owned technological superiority, but the sovereign forces of Egypt had numbers and home court advantage.  
  
The young soldier could find no comfort in the seat of the M9. It was not because Sousuke was piloting something other than Arbalest---the logistics of the mission had precluded that. No, it was because his very soul felt at if it too was naked. Memories rushed in... recollections of a desert far away... thoughts of a time long ago.  
  
The process was beginning in earnest.  
  
It was as if he had walked into the Hall of Judgment.  
  
He fully expected to be looking into the polished teeth of a jackal-headed deity any moment now.  
  
The thoughts swirled faster and fiercer than the desert sands outside. He saw uncertain images of the Mission building in Kabul, the place of his earliest memories. His mother was there. Did she really look like that. His father was there too. Why did his face have to be blurry? Two other forms faded in and out of focus. His brother and sister. He would give anything to remember something substantial about them.  
  
Once again, he felt the deafening concussion of bombs. He heard the abrupt smashing of doors. Blood---that was the first day he had truly smelled blood. The acrid taste of fear filled his mouth, then as it had in those darkest of days. Every part of his bottle tingled, then went numb.  
  
There were forms in his mind, hideous amorphous forms. They seemed like Giants. They moved like ghosts. Russian soldiers, seen through a young child's eyes. They were replaced by the bodies of his family... some killed by falling bits of building... the others ruthlessly brutalized and killed by the uniformed fiends  
  
In his eyes, there was no clemency given a child..  
  
His sins were clear to him.  
  
_Fear.  
_  
He had run. He had run as fast as he could, never looking back. He never once checked to see if anyone in his family was still alive.  
  
_Selfishness.  
_  
Again, he had though only of his survival. He was swallowed up by his own pain and fear.  
  
_Guilt.  
_  
When he reached a place of relative safety, he had begun to blame himself for what happened. Somehow, he decided that the soldiers must have come because of HIM and him alone. Perhaps it was because of the small roll he had stolen from the street vendor the day before last. Maybe it was due to the evil thoughts he had about the invading troops. Could someone have discovered the drawing he made of those hated men?  
  
There had been no place for reasoned thought then.  
  
_Worry.  
_  
It became his life's blood. Worry helped him eat. Worry helped him drink. Worry helped find him places to hide. Worry drove him to find places to sleep. It shaped who he was then.  
  
Were there any virtues brought to light that day? If he were charitable, he could mention that he had survived where everyone else had perished. But, that was by good fortune, not as a result of some great deed of his. Nevertheless, he felt a need to justify his actions. He had only been a small child.  
  
Did that matter?  
  
The small convoy took a turn off of the main concourse. They headed towards more lightly populated areas. Sousuke's thoughts changed their direction as well.  
  
He envisioned himself sitting in Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin's office. He was told about a new assignment. He would be bodyguarding a civilian girl. Her picture---taken years earlier---meant nothing to him at that moment. She was only a mission. The unsuspected and unwanted task displeased him. His attitude and reactions had been less than ideal.  
  
_Sloth.  
_  
He had no desire to leave the sub, to take on that assignment. He was content in his current existence, and did not wish to experience such a difficult transition.  
  
_Insolence.  
_  
He had wanted to throw the mission dossier in the trash. While he did not, his eyes had conveyed his true feelings. It was a foolish decision, guarding some girl. Other people could do that. He was a Specialist.  
  
_Fear.  
_  
He would not acknowledge his feelings at the time, but he realized all too well that he was not fit for the real world. What did he know about it? How could he blend in successfully? Why should he be on his own again?  
  
_Arrogance.  
_  
It was a babysitting assignment! How could a blue-haired girl count for more than an ace Arm Slave pilot? Any number of ground huggers and box pushers could handle that kind of work.  
  
Sousuke's M9 stepped into a deceptive cut in the land. He felt a brief sinking sensation, then a jarring halt. The Arm Slave had found a sand- filled crevice and was sunk up to its primary leg joints. Extending his arm cord, Sousuke used the free arm to push the A.S. out while Kurz' machine pulled on the line.  
  
Just as suddenly as his M9 had succumbed to the environment, Sousuke's memories blurred, wavered, then reformed. He stood in front of his new classmates at Jindai High School.  
  
_Lying.  
_  
It became a huge part of his life, in a professional sense. It was necessary for his cover. He did not like the CD he claimed were his favorites. He really WAS a sergeant. Those were the tamest of the lies he would tell.  
  
_Insolence and Disrespect_.  
  
He had burst into the girl's locker room while they were in various stages of undress, caring more about the slim chance of a mission failure more than he did about the sanctity of the room or the feelings of its residents.  
  
He also realized that he had been plain stupid. But, that was not a sin.  
  
_Excuse making.  
_  
Caught by the girls, he had resorted to lame excuses. More lies. Even more stupidity. He shook his head. It was hard to believe that he had claimed that he wanted to join their team.  
  
_Bitterness and Self-pity.  
_  
Dragging himself back to the safe house, handcuffed to a metal folding chair, he had blamed his superiors... cursed his luck... and hated his life. A Specialist, cuffed to a metal chair, by a bunch of teenage softball players!  
  
_Irresponsibility.  
_  
When he later listened to the wire tap on the girl's phone---hearing that she thought he was 'interesting'---his thoughts had been wild and undisciplined . He had come close to refusing any further involvement in the mission.  
  
Again, there were plausible reasons for many of his actions. But, that didn't mean anything. Criminals can also explain in great detail why they do the things they do.  
  
That was the negative side of the ledger. What did he have to show on the positive side? Had he done anything constructive? Did he experience any noteworthy or admirable feelings?  
  
_Faith?  
_  
No. He hadn't exactly bee a vessel of unbounded faith.  
  
_Hope?_  
  
Right! Things had looked as bleak as they had ever been.  
  
_Charity?_  
  
The only thing he would have shared with anyone those days was a bullet to the head.  
  
_Fortitude?  
_  
No. For someone who could survive any climate... get by in any natural surroundings... and defeat any enemy... he was exhausted by the end of his first day of school.  
  
_Temperance or Prudence?  
_  
Anything but! But, when had he ever shown those, except where they were built into sound military doctrine.  
  
Setting the M9 on auto-pilot for a few moments, Sousuke rubbed at his eyes. Kaname had meant nothing to him then. He never would have guessed how that would change, just as she could never have guessed the kinds of things she would be annoyed and tormented by.  
  
Was her life better for having him around, or worse? Were things improving now that his feelings for her were evolving and he was more receptive to her suggestions and complaints?  
  
_Voyeurism.  
_  
Normally, that would be the last thing he would be concerned about. But, was there more than one way to get satisfaction or a thrill from watching someone? Did he get a view of normal life by keeping an eye on Kaname?  
  
Maybe.  
  
Perhaps the converse was true as well. Did his actions give her a chance to get a view of an abnormal life?  
  
_Abuse._  
  
Were the countless awkward or unusual circumstances Kaname was forced to deal with on his behalf an abuse of her once happy life?  
  
The sound of a jangling goat bell brought his mind back to the present, just in time. He quickly shut off the auto-pilot and grabbed the control lever. The M9's huge metal foot hovered unseen just above the head of a young goat herder carrying a young animal.  
  
Somehow, the goats sense the Arm Slave was there. The boy never realized how close to death he had come.  
  
_Irresponsibility.  
_  
He had come close to stealing that child's every hope and dream.  
  
It was not the first time Sousuke had been in such a situation. This time, however, the results were much more favorable. He had no wish to revisit those days. But, sooner or later, those thoughts would barge through the door into his mind uninvited.  
  
Sousuke sighed. It felt as if it were going to be a long mission, even before any type of fighting or guard duty took place.  
  
Part of his mind had locked onto a target of uncertain value. Just what good could possible come from self-examination? Would he suffer collateral damage?  
  
Wasn't there a reason that he usually suppressed his thoughts and feelings automatically?  
  
Would he be fighting on two fronts at once?  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Sousuke took a moment to dismount and check the ground. He wanted to make certain that there was no trace whatsoever of the task he had just finished. Before climbing back into his M9, he stood a moment in the hot wind, lost in thought.  
  
Some things are a matter of perspective.  
  
Depending on a man's frame of reference---and cultural, ethnic, and societal norms---certain things can be viewed as good by some people, and bad by others.  
  
In contrast, there were also things that were much less ambiguous.  
  
"It's not a question of good or bad. It was a matter of necessity."  
  
Sousuke's heart and mind were not in total agreement at the moment.  
  
A small cluster of Egyptian soldiers had lain dead in the wreckage of their burning truck. The armed men had challenged the drivers of the transporters.  
  
Rightfully so.  
  
They had made their stand when their commands were rebuffed, and they had done so with courage and admirable teamwork. All had died when unseen forces beyond their imagining ripped their bodies to shred and exploded the truck.  
  
Each and every one might leave behind a wife and children to mourn their mysterious disappearance.  
  
It was all too easy to claim the actions were necessary. The reasons all made perfect sense.  
  
_The Mithril troops could not afford to be stopped.  
_  
True. If they were not able to prevent the harvesting, processing, and shipping of the mushrooms, many more people would be mourning.  
  
_They could not risk that the terrorists could not be alarmed or alerted.  
_  
That followed naturally from the first point. How many mushrooms would it take to wipe out a village... a burg... a town... a city... a national capitol? How many shipments might get past them for every minute headstart the enemy got?  
  
_There was no time or place for captives_.  
  
They had no room for error whatsoever. All of their forces needed to be allocated to the primary purpose. Any man left guarding prisoners was a man who was not fighting terrorists. Even their minimal level of deception would prove useless if a captive were allowed to speak.  
  
_No anesthetic agents had been loaded aboard any of the Mithril craft--- every spare space had already been accounted for.  
_  
That was a logistical fact. The powers that be had made there decision on captives, so the possibility of non-lethal methods were not even discussed. It was a brutal game, where the pawns were made of flesh and blood. The outcome of the game mattered more than any one piece.  
  
Sousuke had been given the sad task of digging an unmarked grave and removing all trace of his activity. The monomolecular cutter could double as a long flat shovel in the soft and shifting sand. The rocket boosters on the back of the M9 smoothed the sand in the area he had completed his grisly task.  
  
They couldn't even leave a marker to point the way for grieving family members.  
  
He had not been the one who pulled the trigger. Sgt. Major Mao, as squad leader, had taken that burden upon herself. He had stood by and done nothing. He had not uttered a single word.  
  
Furthermore, he would have given the same order.  
  
The mission came first. Eight lives ceased to be, in hopes that millions of other lives could continue onward. Was this a sin? If so, did his soul share the burden? Were his hands dripping with the blood of innocent men by proxy?  
  
His next thought made him shudder.  
  
What if someone were forced to kill Kaname in similar fashion? Would that makes things any better? Would his feeling of loss be any less? Those thoughts were too disturbing to consider now.  
  
This was not the first time he had been assailed by his hibernating conscience. But, it was by far the most troubled he had ever been. Something had knocked holes in the walls he had built around himself.  
  
The excuses swirled around in his head, seemingly of their own accord. He wanted to stop such thoughts, but he couldn't. Not only were the recent actions on trial, but his entire life too!  
  
_It was for a good cause.  
_  
Yes, but he didn't need to hear that. Not again and again and again.  
  
_At least it was painless.  
_  
That was probably true, but who could say? He remembered countless other enemies who had not been so fortunate. Heir cries joined in an unholy chorus.  
  
_Many other people would benefit.  
_  
Yes. Maybe. Who could say. There was no guarantee they would succeed.  
  
_The terrorists were ultimately to blame.  
_  
No one could deny that. But, the terrorists had not pulled the trigger. They had not stood idly by as good and honest men died doing their sworn duty.  
  
_He had been ordered to stand by.  
_  
Every war or skirmish could claim some soldier who committed atrocities by way of orders. Who should take the blame? The soldier? The leaders? The situation that necessitated the fighting in the first place? And who was qualified to judge what was an atrocity and what was a necessity?  
  
_They could have been killed themselves if they failed to act.  
_  
Yes and no. Sousuke. Not Melissa or Kurz either. That type of squad may not even have been on active duty. At ,ost, they were patrolling. There was little likelihood that they had been equipped with anything that could have harmed any Arm Slave, much less an M9. Only the Mithril troops had been at risk.  
  
_Any other armed force would have done the same.  
_  
True. The only ones that wouldn't would be those that couldn't. The cost of duty is not light. Ask any person on the street about soldiers, and they will understand the physical sacrifices they sometimes have to make. Few would truly understand the other burdens they must bear.  
  
It is an accepted truism that the victors write history. They have a chance to paint any happening in a manner of their choosing for posterity's sake. Some individuals operate in the same manner. Sousuke couldn't. At least not then.  
  
Sousuke banged his fist flat against his forehead, trying to break up the swarming mass of thoughts.  
  
The potential excuses were endless. None of them made him feel better, but nothing had convinced him that any other course would have been better. The bottom line remained. There was a job to be done. They would bring thunder, death, and destruction and let God reckon the cost.  
  
The small but powerful forced moved on after everyone was set. They would reach their goal near dusk. That would prove ideal for their plans. As the daylight faded, the ghosts in Sousuke's memories arrived in force once more.  
  
Once again winds of his mind blew him back to the past. He was still a boy in those images, but he had taken his first big steps away from innocence. There had been no family or friends he could turn to. He learned by watching, just how terrible the conditions were in the street-side and state-run orphanages and shelters. The abuse had been unspeakable, worse than anything done by the invaders. He would not subject himself to that. Not at any price.  
  
Still, those institutions served him well.  
  
He learned to be a thief, stealing the food and supplies he needed from them. It never crossed his mind that every bite of food he pilfered was once less bite of food for someone else. The warmth of the blankets he made off with was something he could sense. The shivering of some other deprived youth was not.  
  
_Stealing.  
_  
It had kept him alive. It helped teach him stealth. It forced him to value necessity more than morals, when he had to chose one or the other.  
  
_Extortion.  
_  
He began bullying other vagrants and unfortunates. He had been terribly wronged, so he felt no compulsion against doing the same to those who were weaker or slower than himself.  
  
For a moment, the self examination stopped.  
  
He realized just how much he owed Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin and the men that came before him. It was a miracle that he had any sense of justice, temperance, or charity at all. The road ahead of him was long, and filled with confusing twists and turns; but, he was much further along than he had any right to be.  
  
He realized another thing. Kaname needed to be added to that list.  
  
Whether or not she realized it, there was no doubt that she had helped him grow as well. He should be feeling some form of gratitude in that regard. Instead, he struggled against a sense of impending loss. Would Kaname ever forgive him for abandoning her in her time of need?  
  
That train of thought was pointless at the moment. Kaname was thousands of miles away. What had been said, was said. What had been done, was done. Instead, Sousuke's thoughts back once more to his aimless days on the streets of Kabul.  
  
_Trespassing._  
  
He recognized no moral or ethical boundaries, only physical ones. Any place he could go, he went, if looked as if he could get back out again.  
  
_Cheating._  
  
By necessity, he learned to barter and to trade. Hard times and a growing hatred of con artists and shill men drove him to outdo those who would do unto him.  
  
_Gluttony.  
_  
It was a relative thing. He had stolen and extorted more than he needed to survive, but appropriated less than he would have been given freely had his parents been alive. They had been generous, even though they were of poor means. He decided that other people owed him the things he had never been able to receive.  
  
_Hypocrisy._  
  
Whenever the opportunity arose, he spoke out against the Russians for the crimes they committed. Yet, he did many of those same things himself. He was not a murderer; but that would come soon enough. He had not been taken over by hate, revenge, judgment, and stubbornness; but, that time had been fast approaching.  
  
Sousuke shivered, thinking back to those times. He had been little more than an animal. That same raw and lawless part still reached out to grab hold of him at times, in the heat of battle, or in a heated competition.  
  
Should he be ashamed? Ruthlessness in combat was one of the things that kept bringing him back alive.  
  
Again, it was time to balance the tally sheets.  
  
Were there any things that could be said in his favor?  
  
Yes. He could not deny the truth. Sometimes strengths are born out of adversity.  
  
_Hope.  
_  
Despite the fact that his world had collapsed around him, he still managed to hold onto expectations for something different. He had wanted something better. If it lay within his power to obtain it, he would seize it. Somehow. Somewhere. Someday.  
  
_Fortitude.  
_  
His mental and physical endurance grew. His strength grew, in body and in spirit. Whether good or evil, his actions had begun to increase the depth of his courage. He was layin the groundwork for the future.  
  
_Prudence._  
  
He had learned caution and carefulness. He had begun to understand the true meaning of wisdom, as opposed to the nonsense that many elders spouted. Vigilance had become a part of his every waking thought.  
  
_Charity._  
  
That had been rare at first, but the seed had germinated. On occasion, when his memories of his parents' kindness overpowered more recent memories of harshness and injustice, he made it a point to help those in need. True, it was often as a means to obtain something for himself later on, but it was a start.  
  
One thought branched off into two, with those two giving rise to three, four, or five each. True memories. Hazy recollections. Youthful interpretations and later musings. Different times, places, and circumstances. His mind tried to follow some twisted and tangled skein, wanting to understand which steps led to others.  
  
Did the fact that he would go on to save countless oppressed and endangered people justify the acts he had committed in his youth? Were the hard times he had faced---and the drastic steps he had taken---the fire that was needed to temper his steel? Could he be the force for good he was today, if he had not faced evil first hand during his formative years?  
  
"Urzu 6 and Urzu 7, stay sharp. We're past the point of no return. If this mission is going to get done, it has to be tonight. Turn that damn racket down, Weber!" Sgt. Major Mao's message brought him temporarily back to the here and now.  
  
He shook his head.  
  
It was easy to picture Sgt. Weber in his pilot's chair, moving to some obnoxiously loud music.  
  
Sousuke had another thought, as his M9 lumbered along. Was he himself the fire to Kaname's steel? Did her continual survival make the hardships she faced at his hand meaningful ? Was she learning something crucial from the adventures they had? Some day, if he had to leave her, would the things he instilled in her make it easier for her to survive?  
  
Capricious, his thoughts changed yet again and flitted across his mind much like the fragments of palm tree fronds he saw blowing past the external viewer on his Arm Slave. A collage of memories fused, split, and combined yet again:  
  
_Grenades went off in class.  
_  
He had... eventually... realized that he had been acting without thinking, and without provocation... long after the fact. The injuries had been minor and the damage had been limited, but that wasn't his teacher's major concern. Just where was his judgment? What would happen the next time? Did he belong in a class of 'normal' students?  
  
Normal.  
  
Not him.  
  
_A bust for Art class was destroyed._  
  
It had looked as if someone were attacking Kaname. His reactions and reflexes calibrated for the battlefield, should he have approached things differently? Was it even possible for him then? Now? In any case, his precipitous act ruined something that Kaname had put a lot of work into.  
  
She had made a lot of effort to turn her life around, too. Was he ruining that for her as well?  
  
_Shoe boxes and love letters ceased to be_.  
  
At least he could now claim to have made SOME progress. Looking back on those episodes, he couldn't believe he had taken things to such an extreme. True, he had used a time honored way of neutralizing threats; but, his threat assessment had left a lot to be desired. It was school, not the dusty halls of some foreign politsburo. After the first incident, he had even watched a girl waiting for him, keeping her in the crosshairs of his rifle.  
  
The girl looked at him as if he had crawled out of the primordial muck and slime. Kaname had treated him like he was a blight on existence. Mithril had gotten another hefty clandestine bill for damages.  
  
Plenty of people know of the dangers associated with moving a wild animal out of its environment. Some simply wither away and die. Others may appear tame, but savage some unsuspecting soul later on.  
  
Savage.  
  
To savage. To be a savage.  
  
Him.  
  
_An art class was confronted with tricks and traps.  
_  
It was embarrassing to him now, realizing how wrong his interpretations had been. The other students had expected a peaceful day of meditation, discovery, and sketching. He had given them explosives, deadfalls, pits, and adhesive trap materials. Kaname had called him on his cellular phone, telling he was mistaken and asking him to stop. He had been too bullheaded. Only his own interpretation had mattered. His fellow students had been expendable, of less value to him than the completion of some imagined mission.  
  
_He had stolen a bicycle, and left it dismantled, strewn across the slope of a public lawn_.  
  
Some was bereft of a possession, for no reason other than the fact that he had not wanted to be late for school. He had been afraid of what Kaname might say or do. His need to correct his earlier error lead to thoughtless and inappropriate behavior. Furthermore, he had involved Kaname in his impropriety.  
  
Having been thrown in front of a speeding taxi cab was no excuse. The fact that Kaname had seemed happy for a while, riding on the back of the appropriated cycle was no justification.  
  
_He had roughed up a man and stolen an amusement park mascot suit.  
_  
Again, he had been driven by the need to protect Kaname. He had no problem with that in retrospect. But, to keep his presence a secret from her... and to prevent her from truly hating him... he had harmed an innocent man entertaining children, and had swiped a custom-made suit that served his immediate and selfish needs. Furthermore, seeing a tactical use for the suit, he had never returned it.  
  
The man in the suit had not been his adversary. His missions were not being run behind enemy lines. The disregard he showed for life, limb, and property was acceptable in battle, but not in polite society.  
  
Different people had tried repeatedly to bang that fact into his head. It was only now beginning to sink in.  
  
Some.  
  
_He had brought an unknown bio-agent into school_.  
  
How could he have done that? What if it really HAD been Ebola or some other weaponized strain?  
  
He had been so impatient, so intent on finding out why he had been sent the wrong item, that he never stopped to reckon the potential risk and cost to his peers. True, who would expect someone to mistake the canister as a Thermos and to consume the contents? But, that couldn't have happened if he had left the item some place secure... or had simply kept it in his grasp while he made the call.  
  
People had been terrorized---they thought they were going to die. Everyone had been scandalized---standing naked in front of members of the opposite sex had not been on their list of school assignments.  
  
He was fortunate that anyone spoke to him after that? They hadn't for a while. IT took a great deal of effort by the Financial and Public Relations Divisions within Mithril to diffuse that blunder.  
  
None of that took into consideration the way he had treated Kaname in the nurse's office. His thoughts and urges at the time had been....  
  
**Censored**  
  
_He had yelled at Kaname aboard the TDD-1, when all she had been doing was trying to comfort him._  
  
At the time, he didn't care. His own misery, confusion, and failure were his only concern. It hadn't registered on his screens that Kaname might have feelings too. She didn't really know him, so her words meant nothing. At that moment, SHE had meant nothing. Things hadn't been easy for her either, but she reached out to comfort him. His actions had her running from the locker room in tears.  
  
There was no avoiding the glaring light of Truth. Those had all been detrimental or disruptive events, with little or no selfless justification. He could make excuses until the cows came home, but that wouldn't change the facts. But, in the interest of Justice, he had to admit that there had also been positive events with desirable outcomes. It was a matter of balance. Which way would the scale tip? He forced himself to remember the good as well as the bad:  
  
_He reached out emotionally to Kaname on a railway bench._  
  
It hadn't been much of a step, but he had surprised himself with the effort. Her reaction had confused, him, and also made him realize that he might indeed want to fit in with people his age. The fact that he had jumped from a moving train... rolled hard against the concrete waiting area... and knocked over a heavy bench... did not bode well for his initial success in that endeavor.  
  
In any case, he found himself opening up to Kaname in ways he had never done with comrades who had been more important in his life. Kurz, Melissa, and Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin came to mind. So did men and women who had died.  
  
How long would Kaname be in his life? Did she even want him to be there?  
  
_Surrounded, in a foreign land, he had listened to her and helped save them and Kurz.  
_  
Her assistance with Arbalest was crucial, but that wasn't Kaname's major contribution. She had said that she didn't want him to just go out and die. They had stared at each other at one point, saying one another's names. The feelings inside him then were strong but baffling. He had no idea what to do at that time, regarding the look on her face or her magnetic physical proximity.  
  
But, he had listened to her. His stubbornness had given way to hope, determination, and cooperation. If he hadn't, they would all be dead today.  
  
_Intent on rescuing her, he leaped off of a cliff with her in his arms, a balloon slowing their descent.  
_  
Yes, Kaname had not been in any danger. His interpretation of the situation left something to be desired, but he continued to be an advocate of being safe rather than sorry. It had taken great skill and perseverance scaling those imposing cliffs. The bodyguards had been no slouches, but he won his way through.  
  
He had been worried about her.  
  
It hadn't just been duty and obligation  
  
_He admitted his fear to Kaname, fooled into thinking she had been covered with blood instead of paint.  
_  
He had been concerned. There was no denying that. His heart had been beating out of control and he hadn't known what to do for an instant. When he found out it was paint instead of blood, he was relieved, but his reaction had left him in doubt. What was Kaname Chidori to him? She had wanted to know how he felt at the moment. The question itself had him somewhat uneasy. But, he had answered truthfully... the first time she asked.  
  
That bicycle ride home had felt... different.  
  
_Dressed in the pilfered Bonta-Kun suit, he had watched over her to_ _make certain she was safe.  
_  
What he had told Kyouko was true. He would defend Kaname, no matter who she was with. Much of that had to do with duty and professional responsibility... but not all of it... maybe not even most of it. Her later conversation with Bonta-Kun had left him feeling strange inside, as if something were right in the world.  
  
He had protected her from gangsters. He had tried to do his best to respect her privacy. He had not run away from her gentle admissions.  
  
Furthermore, before she had even gone to the amusement park, he had offered to help her when she seemed distraught and distracted.  
  
It was not a mission requirement.  
  
_In the kitchen of Da Dannan, he had made an effort to connect with Kaname and show her that she did matter. At his special fishing spot, he had told her that he felt as if he could do anything when she was with him.  
  
_He owed credit to Kurz, for pushing him towards an apology. But, the word that he said and the feelings that they invoked had been his own. He had begun to accept Kaname as someone he could depend on. Later, he spoke for both his and her sake, sharing the fact that he felt that he could do anything when she was around.  
  
She seemed happy to hear that.  
  
There had been no anger or disappointment when he resumed his mission at Jindai High.  
  
_With dusk approaching, he had stood by a lake and told Kaname that she was beautiful.  
_  
It had not come out unprompted, but he had said it just the same. It had even felt good to say it. After that, somehow, he began answering things more directly, without so much guilt or evasion. The following weeks had seen a renaissance. Each truth made the next truth easier. Each admission had Kaname opening up to him more herself.  
  
She criticized him less and encouraged him more. She followed him around as much as he followed her.  
  
Sousuke thought about things he had read about. Mastodons and early humans had been found trapped in the ice for millennia, well preserved.  
  
Sometimes he himself felt like that. Is view of life had always been so blurry, as if he was staring from within a block of ice. His choices in life had been limited. There had never seemed to be any need or chance to break free and do something radically different.  
  
Was that ice melting? If it was, would the tissue inside be well preserved but dead just the same? There had been something else he had read about once.  
  
There was an insect in New Zealand that had a physical appearance looking like a cross between a cockroach and a cricket. In the absence of any land snakes in New Zealand, _weta _have come to represent, for New Zealanders, the revulsion at things that creep and crawl in the dark.  
  
There might be some parallel there, with a young operative you snuck about performing secret duties .  
  
The _Mountain Rock Weta_ have special proteins in their hemolymph---the insect equivalent of blood---which prevent ice from forming in their cells. This enables them to survive at temperatures down to –10°C, even when 82 percent of their body water has frozen. Trapped in ice, they would be alive when it thawed out.  
  
Kaname seemed to be responsible for the slow and subtle melting of _his_ ice. He wasn't certain what it meant.  
  
It might be a moot point, any way.  
  
Yes, his thoughts were indeed a mixed bag. If he were an avid pool player like Kurz, he might have said he had run the table.  
  
_Arrogance. Interruption. Arguing_.  
  
He saw plenty of evidence of those.  
  
_Trust, Mercy, Impartiality, and Help_.  
  
He could claim each of those as well.  
  
_Moderastion and Restraint?  
_  
Well, he remained weak there, despite it all. Yet, to be honest, he would have to admit that he wasn't a total lost cause in that regard.  
  
_Impatience, Stubbornness, and Ingratitude_.  
  
He had shown improvements in those areas. Was that because he was growing up, evolving into a more complete person? Or, was it simply a matter of circumstances? Perhaps he had been put in fewer situations that would allow him to see his lurking shortcomings.  
  
_Anger and Worry.  
_  
Truthfully, that hadn't gotten much better. But, on the flipside, he could say that they hadn't gotten any worse either. His anger was more directed, as was his worry. He did not like to see things threaten Kaname or make her unhappy. It was less about events, and more about her.  
  
_Fairness, Discretion, and Benevolence.  
  
_He was making progress with those.  
  
No, better strike those last two.  
  
What was the fullest measure of his success in his undercover mission???  
  
That had to be based on the fact that Kaname was still alive. She had faced a number of dangerous and difficult situations, and he had been able to rescue her from them time and time again.  
  
Still, for every good thing he brought Kaname, he seemed to bring her two bad things. Was that a fact, or was he being overly harsh with himself? There was no denying the fact that many of the catastrophes she had found herself embroiled in came about because of him, his poor judgment, or his inability to fit into everyday society.  
  
And the fullest measure of his growth as a man???  
  
That rested on different criteria altogether. Was he improving? Or, was he becoming more of a burden to Kaname than he was worth?  
  
Could he find a way to maximize the joy, peace, and stability he brought to her life, while minimizing the pain and disorder?  
  
Did she take any joy in his presence, when all was said and done? Why did he find himself wanting that? Was it for her sake, or for his own?  
  
Why would he... a consummate soldier... want such a thing?  
  
Sousuke had to pry his hand off of the control lever. His grip had become so tight, that his arm muscles were locked in a painful spasm. The blurriness in his vision was evidence that he was hyperventilating. He needed to calm down. His thoughts had been becoming too intense, too jumbled. He could not possibly hope to distill everything he had been---and everything he had done---into one neat container. It was pointless to attempt the impossible.  
  
He needed moderation, mercy, and fairness more than ever. For himself.  
  
He was not Kaname's enemy.  
  
He could not change the past.  
  
He should be wary of setting unattainable goals.  
  
Massaging one arm at a time, he came to another realization. It was good that he wanted to become worthy of Kaname's admiration and trust. But, he had to be patient. He had to risk failing. He also had to risk succeeding.  
  
He could not rush that. He could not force himself to change overnight. If things didn't come naturally, they wouldn't come at all.  
  
And some decisions were not his to make.  
  
At least not yet.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
A restrained beeping noise could be heard. The strip of lights encircling the view screen were pulsing on and off.  
  
Two more Egyptian Army vehicles registered on his short range radar screen, their visual contact being obscured by an impending sandstorm. Holding his breath, he saw them veer away from his current heading just moments before they crossed into a mandatory kill zone.  
  
The camels that showed up on his infrared scanner were in no such danger. He was pretty certain that Sgt. Major Mao would trust them to keep silent.  
  
Exhausted from his counting of virtues and sins, Sousuke found himself breaking one of Sagara's Rules Of Battle. His mind wandered far further than it should. He began to ponder the significance of a story he had read: The Doomed Prince, also called by some The Crocodile_, _theSnake, and the Dog_:_  
  
_One of the kings of Egypt was unhappy, for he had no son to rule in his place, once he was gone. He prayed to the gods, who answered his prayers, and a son was born to him. But, the seven Hathors announced that this prince would die by either a snake, a crocodile or a dog.  
  
The King was informed of this prediction. He ordered that the child be kept within a palace in the desert and guarded at all times.  
  
The boy grew strong and tall. One day he climbed to the top of the wall of his palace, and saw a man walking with a dog. He asked a servant what that animal was, and was informed that it was a dog. The prince wanted a dog of his own, and ordered the servant to bring him one. The king was informed of his son's desire for a dog. The king gave in to his son's desire, and gave him a dog.  
_  
_The prince grew to become a young man. And he complained to his father the king, saying, "Why am I kept a prisoner? I am destined to die either by a snake, a crocodile, or a dog. It is the will of the gods. Then let me live my life, while it lasts." The king eventually consented, giving his son weapons, and sending him and his dog to a foreign land.  
  
In the foreign land, he encountered a beautiful princess. The king of this land had no son, and desired a husband for his daughter, the princess. Those who wished to marry the princess had to climb a wall to reach the princess. Every day, young men tried to climb the wall, and failed. The Egyptian prince climbed the wall, and won the heart of the princess.  
_  
_The king asked who had won his daughter. And the prince answered that he was the son of one of the soldiers of the king of Egypt, and that he had run away from home. In anger, the king refused to let his daughter marry a commoner. His daughter threatened to neither eat nor drink until they be married. The king demanded that the young man be killed. His daughter threatened to kill herself, if he were killed. The king gave in to his daughter, and they were married.  
  
Once they were married, the prince told his wife of his destiny, to be killed by a snake, a crocodile, or a dog. His wife responded that they should kill the dog, immediately. The prince refused, saying that his dog would never harm him.  
  
A crocodile rose from the river, each night. But it was prevented from attacking the prince, by the presence of a giant who protected the prince.  
_  
_One night, while the prince slept, the princess saw a snake come into their bedroom, and creep toward the sleeping prince. She trapped the snake and killed it. She woke the prince, and showed him the dead snake, and the prince marveled at this. She said, "See, the gods have allowed me to remove one of your three fates." The prince made offerings, and thanked the gods.  
  
One day, the prince came to the river, and the crocodile spoke to him. The crocodile said that he would eventually kill the prince, when the giant lowered his guard.  
  
One night, the prince and his wife were out walking. The crocodile, hiding in the reeds, saw that the giant had not noticed him, and that an attack on the prince would probably succeed. The crocodile rushed from hiding, and attacked the prince, injuring him. But the dog jumped between the crocodile and the prince, distracting the crocodile. The giant drove a large spear through the crocodile's heart.  
_  
_The princess saw that the crocodile was dead, and that her husband was still alive, although seriously injured. A servant was sent to find a doctor. In tears, the princess whispered to her unconscious husband, "Now, two of your fates have been removed. Forgive me, but I must remove the third fate." And she told the giant to kill the dog, which was standing guard over its master. The giant killed the dog.  
  
But, the crocodile was not yet dead. It made one last attack. And the prince and the crocodile died together.  
  
Soon, the princess gave birth to a son, the prince's son. This son eventually ruled Egypt. Even so, the princess lived the rest of her days in regret about her own actions.  
  
_His head throbbing, Sousuke tried to make sense of the story from his own perspective. How did the lessons inherent in that tale apply to his life as a soldier? Could he take anything from that tale as a portent of his relationship with Kaname?  
  
_One cannot avoid Destiny.  
  
_He wasn't certain he believed in Destiny.  
  
He tended to put a lot of faith in his speed, dexterity, and decision- making abilities. That could be Faith, or it could be Arrogance. Perhaps some of both.  
  
Fate was a much more comfortable concept than Destiny, given the amount of time he routinely spent in battle. Still, it may well be his destiny to die by a bullet. Worrying too much about that was more likely to get him shot than it was prevent any such injury.  
  
_A person trying to be helpful may well cause harm to befall the one he wishes to help  
  
_That one had indeed struck close to home. It dredged up memories of civilians who had died as a result of his actions---they had been men and women he was fighting to protect. War often brought about such paradoxes.  
  
Carefulness and emotional sobriety.  
  
Those should be packed away in every soldier's kit.  
  
He was no exception.  
  
He also thought about Kaname, and the way that she had been hurt on occasion as a result of his actions. In the past, he had simply written such things off as the cost of action, even though her plight had left him feeling sorrowful or guilty.  
  
Now, his heart was much less callous, and he dreaded making any mistake that would injure her. He couldn't help but ask himself a dark and drastic question. Could some error of his cause her death? What would life hold for him after that? Despite the fact that his assignment to her was someone else's decision, he held a tremendous responsibility in his hands.  
  
_One should not rush into conclusions regarding success or failure.  
_  
There was ample historical documentation of that lesson. How man battles had been lost by commanders who were too quick to celebrate? How many times had the tides of war been turned by those who refused to believe what others thought was obvious?  
  
He could apply the rule to Kaname as well. Her reactions may often be a sign of his failure. But, they could just as easily be a reflection of unrealistic expectations on her part. He was finding it extremely difficult to understand women. He was not alone in that regard.  
  
But, he had changed. At first, he hadn't even wanted to be around her. Then, he had grown accustomed to being around her, but had little desire to probe her thoughts and needs. Now, he found himself wanting to understand her.  
  
He might even want her to understand him, too. What chance was there of that, if he was having so much trouble assessing himself?  
  
_If one allows it, he can suffer grievously over things that were beyond his ability to control or prevent.  
_  
Yes.  
  
Kaname. Mushrooms. A sick sister. World safety. Duty. Friendship.  
  
Sometimes, a person cannot satisfy everybody. He cannot always satisfy any one person in every way that she wants, or be there every moment that she needs satisfaction.  
  
There was only so much he could do.  
  
It was simply a matter of priorities.  
  
The truth did not lessen his pain.  
  
Not one single bit.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Almost asleep at the stick, Sousuke was jarred back to full awareness by the sound of a strident and insistent threat detector. Three large vehicles were heading in his direction. Eighteen-wheel trucks. A glance at his position indicator told him that he had lagged precipitously. The rest of the Mithril troops were far ahead of him and had not noticed his tardiness.  
  
He typed a query into the onboard computer.  
  
A GPS grid appeared on his HUD. The trucks were coming from the direction of the temples at Abu Simbel. That was an unwanted discovery. His head now clear, he still found himself deep within the Fogs of War. Did those trucks carry mushrooms, or the poison derived from them?  
  
There was no way to be sure, strapped into the cockpit of his M9.  
  
Or, were they simply innocent men, determined to carry out their responsibilities despite the fierce some weather? The possibility existed that they had honest business in the vicinity of the temples, or had taken a long and winding road that simply put them on a concerning vector.  
  
This was a predicament.  
  
The worst thing that could happen would be for the trucks to somehow become aware of the Arm Slave and call in their discovery--that would be a horrendous setback if the drivers were indeed terrorists. He could not allow that to happen.  
  
A full out attack could obliterate all three vehicles before the men had any idea what hit them. But, that carried worth it the risk of killing innocent bystanders. That would be even more unfortunate than soldiers giving their lives for their country.  
  
They could be men or women simply trying to practice their trade---much like his parents had been.  
  
There was a middle ground. If the ECS system was still effective, he could knock over one of the trucks and look inside. It might leave a mystery, if the drivers were innocent. Mithril left more mysteries in its wake than any organization had a right to. One more probably wouldn'tmatter.  
  
However, If the sand made his M9 visible, he might be forced to kill people he was convinced were innocent.  
  
There was still time to think. It was not his decision.  
  
"Urzu 2, this is Urzu 7. Do you copy? Over."  
  
The five seconds that it took for Sgt. Major Mao to reply seemed like an eternity. He kept his Hellbore activated, and had one finger on a button that would launch a flight of missiles.  
  
"Urzu 7, I read you. Sousuke, what are you doing?" Melissa sounded irate and sheepish at the same time. She realized how far back Sousuke was. She also realized that she had not discovered that by her own volition.  
  
"I have company, Sgt. Major." He detailed his situation and asked for orders.  
  
"Burn them, Sgt. Sagara. Literally." Melissa's voice had been resolute. She was not willing to take any risks.  
  
"Should I check the remains, Sgt, Major?"  
  
"Negative. Finish the job and catch up as quickly as possible. Urzu 2 out."  
  
Sousuke did not hesitate. He pushed his M9 into a run. Switches thrown, the pilot flame on the Hellbore gave way to a molten torrent of destruction.. Coming in from the most advantageous angle, he torched one truck after another. Dark oily smoke was immediately dispersed by the violent swirling winds. The napalm-like solution coating the trucks was insatiable, its flames lapping at the available oxygen greedily. Even brief gusts of gale force wind could not extinguish the unholy blaze.  
  
Sousuke stared at a scene that could have been taken out of the Inferno.  
  
An arm slumped out of an open window, the flesh charring to nothingness as he watched.  
  
The wages of sin.  
  
Those may have been innocent men.  
  
Or, they may have been men long overdue in Hell.  
  
There had been no time or inclination to check the nature of the beast. He had to assume it was a crocodile, and he had to make completely certain that the creature was dead, unable to drag someone down with it.  
  
It was his duty to shake off the encounter and move on. 


	3. Chapter 3

The sand storm had been like a persistent hyena, dogging them, snapping at their ankles every step of the way. Landmarks were hard to find, despite GPS assist. On a number of occasions, one or both of the transports got stuck, needing to be pulled out by cables held by the more sure-footed M9s.  
  
Despite that, the screaming waves of airborne particulate matter would be their best friend. Sometimes, good fortune is even better than good planning. There was no way to predict a disturbance of this magnitude. Nonetheless, it would be the ideal cover.  
  
Of course, the situation had its drawbacks too, but one had to make the most out of the opportunity at hand. Sousuke understood such things. He had been doing that as long as he could remember.  
  
In the occasional gaps in the blanketing sand, Sousuke could make out the blurry images of the first of two temples at Abu Simbel. The great edifice had been built by Ramses II in ancient Nubia, as a show of his strength and divine nature. Four statues of him---each over sixty feet high---flanked the temple entrance. That would not be the way down to any secret base. Nor would the front entryway of the adjacent Temple of Hathor provide an easy point of insertion for the anxious and eager ground troops.  
  
Sousule pictured a double-edge sword in his mind. The only question to him was whether they were the one weilding it, or whether someone else stood ready to use it against them. The weather would make it difficult for anyone to escape. However, it would also make it near impossible to track anyone who did manage to make it to a traversable roadway.  
  
The Mithril troops ran out of their parked vehicles, carrying sophisticated equipment to predetermined sites around the temples. They would need to tip their hands. It was necessary to use sounding charges and echo triangulation devices to begin searching for large underground spaces.  
  
Sousuke walked resolutely on perimeter guard duty. He would keep his eyes open for any evidence of enemy troops, and for any means that the adversary might use to enter and exit their places of concealment. He put away the Hellbore and armed himself with his Bofors 57mm. The strong gusts of winds would make aiming the Hellbore near impossible.  
  
The never ending monotony on the M9's viewscreen caused Sousuke to lapse back into his trancelike state.  
  
Aiming.

_Aim  
_  
His innate talent was the thing that elevated him from the state of being refuse to the position of being a warrior. That had not come without a long and painful series of trials. trials  
  
He had been caught stealing by the mujahadeen  
  
Had he been stealing food, they would have slit his throat and left him as a meal for the wandering packs of wild dogs. Instead, he had been brazen enough to try and pilfer weapons. They admired his spunk and courage. Nonetheless, his place was with the domesticated canines of the camp. Where they slept, he slept. What they ate, he ate.  
  
When the animals were sent out to patrol, he went with them. More than anything else, he was an expendable resource. He could be used to draw out enemy fire. He might find a mine that would have taken out a valuable fighter. If a water source was questionable, he drank. If the sand was potentially treacherous, he walked it.  
  
He survived.  
  
That impressed his keepers all the more. He also showed signs of cleverness. Food disappeared, but he was never caught. His skills were improving. But he had yet demonstrated the talents that would make him an adult at an early age.  
  
Sousuke was not native to the land, but it was all that he remembered. The spilling of his family's blood made it his home more than any apartment, street address, or mail box ever could. It was his country now. He would fight for it. No, he would fight for vengeance. The mujahadeen first realized that, when Russian prisoners were dragged back to the camp, barely alive.  
  
The first time a Russian captive passed close to Sousuke, he acted like little more than a beast, falling on the man with teeth and fingernails. No steel weapon at hand, he used a rock to bludgeon the man senseless. As a reward, he was given a knife, to do with as he pleased.  
  
The memory shocked Sousuke back to full awareness.  
  
Good.  
  
No sign of the enemy yet. No word from any of the other team members. He was in a no man's land of a sort, physically. The same was true of his recollections. He could not keep away. His conscience kept dragging him back again.  
  
The young boy that he had been stared at that knife for a number of moments, torn between the kind life he still remembered, and the rough life he now found himself growing more and more accustomed to. At first, he had been so driven by rage... he was certain he would kill the man. But, the Russian lay there helpless, moaning. His hand shook, raised above the man's throat. He looked up at the bearded men watching him. He asked silently for their help.  
  
He had wanted to kill, but found he could not.  
  
One freedom fighter walked over and placed his hand on Sousuke's. With a firm downward push, he forced the boys' hands---and the knife---downward. Spurting crimson stained the sand and brown earth. Looking at his hands, Sousuke did not flinch. Neither did he smile. He remained stoic, his face a living stone. It was what they had wanted to see.  
  
He might prove useful to them.  
  
Over time, he became their trained gyrfalcon. Where they pointed, he flew. When they signaled, he killed. He was not the largest predator in the encampment, but over the years, he became one of the most effective. The saying 'When you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas' held doubly true. In his early days, he picked up fleas from his stablemates. By the time he had earned his own tent, he was picking up every single bit of knowledge the older warriors had to offer.  
  
His skill with weapons was exceptional. Especially his _aim.  
_  
It earned him respect and false comraderie. That drove him to become better still. He learned unarmed combat from men who had been abroad. He earned more than his share of bruises and concussions. His teachers would not take it easy on him. But, he excelled at that as well. From the craftiest warriors, he learned tactics and strategy. From the eldest warriors, he learned about survival.  
  
He was never truly accepted as one of their ranks  
  
It did not matter to him consciously. They were not his true family. He had no true family. Friends were not a blessing or a luxury---they were a burden and a risk. Losing a friend hurt. Relying too much on a comrade might leave him open to betrayal. Harsh lessons made him a harsh man, before he had even reached manhood.  
  
The women in the camp were not his mother.  
  
That was not their fault, but he could not forgive them for it. Some tried to baby him---he hated them for it. Others treated him with ridicule and disrespect, despite his growing list of successes---he gave no heed to their thoughts or opinions.  
  
Somehow, something of his prior life stayed alive despite all that he went through.  
  
It lay dormant, patient. All it needed was opportunity... opportunity and men who would see his abilities and try to make something more out of him. He would still be a human weapon, but his goals would be different. Mithril wanted him to kill and destroy, but they were convinced that it was for the betterment of mankind. For some reason, that appealed to him.  
  
Sousuke snapped out of his reverie, looking down at his hands. He expected to see them covered with blood. They were not. The faces of the men he killed paraded before his eyes. Their eyes burned deep into his very soul. His own cries of justification fell on deaf ears. He rubbed his eyes, but the visions wouldn't go away.  
  
There were more sins to add to his ledger. So many sins.  
  
_Pride.  
_  
He developed an excessive belief in his own abilities. In the future, he would pay a cost for that mistake.  
  
_Envy.  
_  
Despite his skills and successes, he was never admitted to the inner circle of the mujahadeen. No one would introduce their daughters. His share of any bounty remained a greenback's share.  
  
_Gluttony.  
_  
At times he ate, just to be eating. He consumed food as if he had never eaten before, and might never eat again. The taste did not matter. The amount did. That terrible hunger would leave him, but the memory of those days still affected how he ate today..  
  
_Anger.  
_  
It might be less accurate to say he sinned than to say he became that sin. He embodied it. He drank it. It exuded from his pores. It pumped through his heart and pulsed through his veins.  
  
_Avarice.  
_  
Before it came to mean nothing too him, his greed for material goods threatened to consume him. He learned the fruitlessness of that desire. He began to covet one thing in particular. Better and more powerful weapons.  
  
Words paraded before Sousuke's eyes, taunting him.  
  
ARROGANCE. BITTERNESS. HATE. JUDGING. REVENGE. IMPLACABILITY. LUST FOR POWER. IMPATIENCE. PREJUDICE. LYING. BLASPHEMY. PERJURY. MALIGNING. BOASTING. RIDICULING. CURSING. FLATTERY. ARGUING. MURDER. STEALING. DISOBEDIENCE. TRESPASSING. CHEATING. INGRATITUDE. DISRESPECT.  
  
He had seen evidence of all of those sins in others.. He learned from them. He twisted what he learned to his own benefit. It would take years, blood, sweat, and tears to wash them away. That, and people that though he might amount to something more than he had once been..  
  
Now, looking back, Sousuke was torn.  
  
His prior life had made him who he was. It had given him talents that he never would have had otherwise. But, without that upbringing, he would never have found himself in a situation where those talents were sorely needed.  
  
As much as he tried to convince himself he was a different person now... no longer the pup[pet of those prior sins... he couldn't help but wonder if it was possible for him to regress. Could he again become an amoral and vengeful spirit, thinking only of survival and personal gain?  
  
Because his prior sinful state was so all consuming, Sousuke had a difficult time seeing any virtues he might have possessed during those earlier days.  
  
_Conviction.  
_  
Had it existed, or had he simply been consumed with Obsession?  
  
_Self Reliance.  
_  
Did that count? It had been a necessity, not a choice.  
  
_Strength and Resoluteness.  
_  
Again, without those, he never would have survived.  
  
_Vigilance and Endurance  
_  
Ditto.  
  
Sousuke thought of Kaname. He found himself thinking about her strictly in the past tense, and purposely tried to put a stop to that.  
  
Thinking of the future did not bring him any great hope or peace. He was a killer, in the strictest definition of the word. In the past, his picture could have showed up in a dictionary next to that term. He might have his old instincts corralled and tamed, but did that make him domesticated? Did that make him safe? Or, like a tiger or lion raised with love from a cub, was he still a wild beast at heart, capable of striking out at any moment?  
  
It was not a pleasant thought.  
  
He knew of no method to make certain one way or another.  
  
As dreary as his thoughts had turned, there was still a ray of hope. He was capable of feeling new things... of seeing old things in a different way. His time with Kaname had begun to show him that.  
  
He thought back to the kidnapping...the battle on the island... and the hijacking of the TDD-1. Gauron's name was easily the one which occupied the central spot in his memories. How could it be otherwise? That man had been more than a thorn in his side... no, he had been a tree... an entire forest.  
  
Hopefully, that black-hearted bastard had seen his last days, blown to pieces with Venom, just beneath the surface of the sea.  
  
A second name was nearly as prominent, for entirely different reasons.  
  
_Kaname  
_  
She had started off the trip to Kinawa angry, snubbing him. She had laughed and carried on, the center of attention, the sun that her friends spun around. Sousuke had been relegated to his own deserted corner of the galaxy, ignored. That had been fine... he had a job to do.  
  
His feelings had not been as confusing then.  
  
Then, _he_ appeared, and threatened Miss Kagurazuka until Sousuke's staged accident broke the deadly moment. Kaname had bee taken away, to who knows where and who knows what. He followed. He was faced with a dilemma. The hostages had been assigned greater priority than Kaname Chidori. There was a bomb on the plane. He had notified Mithril of its existence, but could not diffuse it himself.  
  
If he was going to make a bold move against enemy troops, shouldn't he try to get the captives off of the plane?  
  
No, that action might draw a large scale response.  
  
It was best to sit tight and wait for the rescue mission.  
  
Similarly, how could he risk going after a single girl, Whispered or not? If he ran into resistance, might not his actions trigger the end of the passengers?  
  
Yes. It could have happened that way.  
  
But, Kaname was his charge. He would NOT abandon her. No matter what.  
  
It was contrary to his directive. He did not debate. He acted. He had made his choice.  
  
_Disobedience.  
_  
It was not the first time.  
  
The first and last time had been in Guatemala, and that incident had gone a long way towards curbing any thoughts of independent action. To disobey again might be understandable from an emotional standpoint, but there would have been no sympathy given him from a military stand point. He had probably used up his ration of mercy and forbearance.  
  
_Irresponsibility.  
_  
Yes, he had been responsible for Kaname. But, his greater duty lay with his classmates. He had left them in a precarious situation.  
  
She had been in danger.  
  
He reduced that danger.  
  
They came under considerable attack together. They escaped that danger together. But, it was a text book case of 'out of the frying pan and into the fire.' Gauron found them, piloting Codarl. The rickety RK92 never stood a chance. He would be only a memory if Sgt. Weber hadn't glided in when he did.  
  
It was strange though. With Kaname nearby, his feelings were not quite what they might normally have been even though he was back in battle, a place more confortable than the confines of a school building.  
  
FEAR.  
  
His fear had not been for himself... it had been for Kaname.  
  
ANGER.  
  
He had felt little. absent. Perhaps that had been due to shock and surprise... he had thought that a shot to the head had erased Gauron from this earth. Nonetheless, the anger did not build when he realized who he faced. It was more important to focus on Kaname, finding some way to help her escape while he died.  
  
PRIDE.  
  
It did not play a role. He did not make any last minute defiant gesture or move, convinced that he had to go down fighting. It was not a priority for him. Kaname had been there, and was in danger.  
  
After Kurz' intervention, Sousuke and Kaname had made their way into the forest. They arrived back at the base too late... he rescue aircraft had left or were just about to leave. The two of them had run alongside, watching the final plane lift its ponderous bulk skyward. There was no time for them to mourn or cry.  
  
Wounded, he lead her deep into the woods again, where they found Sgt. Weber, worse for wear after his encounter with the mysterious Arm Slave.  
  
Kaname had not take kindly to some of his orders. They argued. Her attitude towards him took a new turn. They connected on an emotional level he had not known existed within him. It gave rise to feelings that he had no way to interpret. It was not merely friendship, and he had trouble enough with that concept.  
  
He could do research on that feeling, but what would that do?  
  
There was no written frames of reference comparable to his own. Just how many people had been through what he had?  
  
Nonetheless, he had his suspicions. He would have to see how things evolved, one step at a time. He had to learn to walk before he worried about running.  
  
FAITH.  
  
He had put his faith in Kaname that afternoon.  
  
RESTRAINT and MODERATION.  
  
He had held back at he wish and on her accord.  
  
There had been another moment that now hung before his eyes, tantalizingly close, but still lost in the dusty wreckage of time.  
  
When he had visited her in the hospital---and she finally realized he had been standing there---her reaction was that of great joy.  
  
For him.  
  
Since that time, part of him wanted to see that reaction again. Kaname's treatment of him had changed somewhat, back at school. It was still her domain after all, and she continued to act accordingly. But, there was something in her behavior that pulled at him an emotional current that was dragging him away from the familiar safety of the shore.  
  
HOPE, DESIRE, and EXPECTATION.  
  
They were still small seedlings, but something had been planted. What did he feel for the blue-haired girl? What good could possibly come from it?  
  
TRUST.  
  
They had begun to trust one another more and more. Not just with their safety. Not simply with their expertise in various situations. But, also with their feelings.  
  
It was not smooth walking, however.  
  
Relationships...... like life itself...... seem to have variable topography. He had made Kaname ecstatic by asking her to an island. She turned rigid and unfriendly when she found out it was Mithril's island. She had shown him great kindness and concern when he had returned from an abortive fight with Gauron. He had reacted badly.  
  
He had hurt her.  
  
_Guilt._  
  
It seemed foolish now, but he had wanted to take the whole world on his shoulders, to protect everyone. He found he could not, and allowed himself to sink into a sucking swamp of self-recrimination.  
  
_Bitterness.  
_  
He had cursed his new situation... an Arm Slave with fluky technology... the inability to protect his friends... dissatisfaction with everything that had happened when he took on his assignment guarding Kaname.  
  
_Thoughtlessness.  
_  
His mood would not allow anyone to point out the irrational nature of his thoughts. His handling of Kaname had been rough, unkind, and uncalled for.  
  
But, they had reconciled.  
  
He had found it within himself to apologize. Furthermore, after they had saved each other , he had gone on to share his feelings with her.  
  
_Generosity.  
_  
He hadn't known he was capable of that, not in such a manner.  
  
Not only had he given her a heartfelt apology, he took her to his favorite fishing place. He had planned that activity before the unexpected and harrowing experiences they both went through.  
  
_Hope, Faith, and Charity.  
_  
He had woven them all together when he admitted that he felt like he could do anything when she was around. It felt true. He had never felt that way towards anyone ever before.  
  
That had been before Ayame was taken ill.  
  
That had been before Kaname had lashed out at him and spoken such harsh words.  
  
People had been angry at him before... even some allies had even been angry enough to want to kill him at times. Their reactions had meant nothing. Kaname's reaction had him turned inward... treading in places he had never walked before... going further, perhaps, than it was wise to go.  
  
Could he make his way back out again?  
  
Sousuke purposefully smashed his fist hard against the corner of the control console. It hurt. It hurt a great deal. That helped him focus on the mission at hand. Kaname was not here. She wasn't even on the same continent. Like so many other things, she may only be a memory now.  
  
He had to move on.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Urzu 7, this is Urzu 2, do you copy?"  
  
"This is Urzu 7. I hear you, Sgt. Major. Over."  
  
"Do you see anything in your area, Soususke? The troops have found an opening...... blown it...... and headed inside. If there's any shit to hit the fan, we should expect the crap to start flying pretty soon now. Keep a sharp eye out. "  
  
"Understood. No movement yet, Urzu 2. The radar is severely hampered, and the hot sand has blurred the infra-red. But, we can assume the enemy will face similar handicaps."  
  
"The GPS is still working. You should be able to tell my location and that of Urzu 6. Contact me immediately the moment you see anything, even a single person. Urzu 2, out."  
  
Sousuke continued his patrol.  
  
He was somewhat annoyed, and that blunted his thoughts of the past for a while. Here he was at Abu Simbel...... a dream location...... and he literally couldn't see anything. For a moment, he thought that he would gladly face three Arm Slaves on a clear sunny day, just as long as he could at least get an unobstructed view of the temples.  
  
As it turned out, he was able to get part of his wish.  
  
Walking his M9 near to a sheer sandstone rock face to the west of the temples, he caught sight of some faint lights. They highlighted a rectangular space. Moving closer, he could tell it was an opening. Huge metal doors, disguised to match the rock, had swung open. There were human figures standing in the opening. They looked to have various types of detection equipment. The IFF system did not identify them as friendlies.  
  
Sousuke would save them the trouble of detecting him.  
  
Two shots from his Bofors cleared the area of intact living bodies.  
  
"Urzu 2, this is Urzu 7. Do you copy?"  
  
"This is Urzu 2, do you have something sergeant?"  
  
"Yes." Sousuke described the particulars. "The gate and hallway beyond appear large. The echo imaging system is not fully functional, but the passageway seems to be broad enough and high enough for Arm Slave Traffic. What are my instructions, Sgt. Major?"  
  
There was a pause in the conversation. As Sousuke waited for a reply, he noted something on his radar. Two possible blips suggested something heading up the passageway in his direction.  
  
"Urzu 2, I think I have company coming. I am at a disadvantage here, can I step inside the structure and face them on equal terms? I believe the element of surprise had been preserved despite my earlier actions. If they get much further, they will see the aftermath of my actions."  
  
"Sousuke, Kurz is on his way. ETA is five minutes, tops. Do what you feel is right, but DON'T bite off more than you can chew. Do you understand me?"  
  
"I understand, Sgt. Major. I'm going in. Urzu 7, out."  
  
_"Time . . . is less likely to bring favor to the victor than to the vanquished. . . an offensive war requires above all a quick, irresistible decision."  
_  
That quote from Carl Von Clausewitz had always been engraved in Sousuke's heart. He made use of it both in battle, and at school. It had saved him in the former. It earned him no end of trouble in the latter.  
  
No doubt, that was because the famous Prussian's work was titled On War, and not On School."  
  
On this day, 'On War' was just what he needed. He tore through the two Arm Slaves without too much resistance. The _Shadow _class mechas were formidable machines, but the pilots were unimpressive. He had the advantage in surprise and intention. The only thing in their favor was numbers.  
  
On entering the doorway to the tunnel, Sousuke couldn't help but recall a quote from Judges 1:19:  
  
_"And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, for they had chariots of iron."  
  
_For a moment, he had felt the quick pulse of fear, until he realized that he too sat in a modern chariot of iron. Also, he had no desire to drive his adversary out of the mountain. If things worked the way he wanted, this would serve as a tomb for them.  
  
The iron behemoths on both sides were armed with guns and missiles. None had Lambda driver technology. Their speed and armor were about equal. The M9 auxiliary features were superior, but would not play a role in close quarters.  
  
_"Presence of mind . . . is nothing but an increased capacity of dealing with the unexpected."  
_  
That quote from Clausewitz, was a good indication of the superiority Sousuke had over his adversaries.  
  
The two enemy pilots froze when confronted with an unexpected threat. One Arm Slave remained unmoving, blocking the fire zone for the one behind it. Rather than act, the obstructed pilot was content to follow his partner's lead. His partner never had the chance to lead.  
  
Sousuke's first volley of cannon fire was aimed to destroy or disable the enemy's hand held weaponry. He did that swiftly and efficiently. With tunnel integrity an important consideration, he refrained from firing missiles. Charging in abruptly after firing, he pushed the first fumbling Shadow firmly against the other, hampering its ability to fight. A well placed series of stabs with the Anti-Armor dagger destroyed both man and machine.  
  
Walking his M9 around the first machine, he paid no attention to the blood mixed in with the gusher of escaping hydraulic fluid. Checking first for additional threats, he watched coldly as the second Shadow extricated itself from the wreckage of its fellow.  
  
The pilot no doubt saw Sousuke standing over him, 57mm cannon poised to end his life. The enemy mecha raised its arms---the pilot was trusting in the universal signal of surrender. It wouldn't have mattered if he had waved a white flag.  
  
On this mission, no one was to be left standing, and no machine was to be left in one piece.  
  
The morality of the situation battered at Sousuke. He kept asking himself 'what would Kaname think?' That question had no place here. Only one thing mattered: the objective.  
  
The justification was simple, supplied by a quote from Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War :  
  
_"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."  
_  
Sousuke decided to save ammunition. Armed again with the Anti-Armor dagger, he finished off the second A.S. and its pilot. He felt sick for a moment. His recent soul searching had left him open to the arrows and stings of conscience, thinning the layers of emotional armor he had wrapped himself over the years.  
  
Was he any better off for all of his judging, or had he made himself weaker, more vulnerable? He was mentally and emotionally exhausted, but he had to push forward.  
  
His mind had fixated on quotes he had accumulated over the years. One rang clear and true, the missive of an anonymous Spartan:  
  
_"Any man can fight refreshed and full of rest. A great soldier is when they fight valiantly drained of all strengths, whom is cold and tired, who also have not eaten or drank in weeks."  
  
_In a strange way, Sousuke felt a kinship with that man, and countless other faceless soldiers who had striven for some goal at some time in history.  
  
How many of them had been hardened killing machines?  
  
Had they all been destined to a short life of violence and death?  
  
Was their very participation in battle a sin?  
  
Or, were they valiant men doing what they must...... making sacrifices in spirit as well as body in order to reach their objectives?  
  
Was there any place for a man like that---or a boy like that---amongst individuals who did not fight and did not kill?  
  
Did he have any right to even think about Kaname? She was not tainted with the stains and stench of war.  
  
Would she remain that way if he stayed close to her? Could she suffer something worse if he did not?  
  
_"War is an evil thing; but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse.... Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will ultimately restore our losses, but submission will mean permanent loss of all that we value.... To you who call yourselves men of peace, I say: You are not safe unless you have men of action on your side."  
_  
Those words of Thucydides touched a nerve in Sousuke. Some truths were as strong in 400 B.C. as they were now.  
  
Another quote from the ancient Greek general and historian spoke to him personally. It might also serve as an unspoken mission statement for Mithril:  
  
_"The likeliest way of securing peace is this: only to use one's power in the cause of justice, but to make it perfectly plain that one is resolved not to tolerate aggression."  
  
_Sousuke knew that he did not enjoy killing, and was fully aware that he found no satisfaction in the pain and suffering he caused. He did not see himself as a monster, or freak. He did what needed to be done!  
  
_"War is just when it is necessary; arms are permissible when there is no hope except in arms."  
_  
Niccolo Machiavelli, had written that phrase in The Prince. Sousuke would judge this mission to be a necessity. It was not a matter of national posturing. It had nothing to do with the never ending contest over power and resources that the larger states held amongst themselves. A small group of men and women were risking their lives to avert an unfathomable catastrophe.  
  
_"The condition of freedom is risk."  
  
_Yes. Goethe's claim rang true. If no one was willing to take the risk, the privileges and pleasures that many people took for granted would fall by the wayside. No doubt they would then wonder why no one stepped forward to help them, when the made no such effort themselves.  
  
There was no doubt what could happen if truckload after truckload of Destroying Angel mushroom...... or processed and concentrated Amanitin...... made it into the hands of fanatics and schemers.  
  
Walking his M9 deeper into the tunnel system, Sousuke pondered a major point.  
  
Did he make a difference?  
  
If he were not sitting in this Arm Slave, would someone else be?  
  
If he went on to choose, exclusively, a world of school, bus trips, art class, and amusement parks, would the world suffer from his absence as a skilled and dedicated fighter. Would innocent people be killed or injured, because his place was taken by someone with a chip on his shoulder, or a hole where a conscience once was?  
  
He knew all too well what could happen if incompetent soldiers were handed a task beyond the level of their skills.  
  
Even good soldiers could run into serious troubles when they were out- manned or were on the short end of the technology stick. His mind naturally traveled back to his adoptive homeland. The faces of Gray, Jackson, Maejest, Bill, and Andy floated past. He remembered some of the words they had shared, good and bad. He recalled a quote from Rudyard Kipling:  
  
_"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,  
  
And the women come out to cut up what remains,  
  
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,  
  
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier."  
_  
They had gone to their graves like soldiers, fighting to the end.  
  
None of them had no means to successfully fight Gauron. That maniac had a Lambda Driver equipped A.S. None of them did. Sousuke's absence form the immediate vicinity spelled all of their dooms.  
  
It was not the point of eternal guilt he was drawn to. It was the fact that he was the only one who could pilot Arbalest. Perhaps there were people in the higher command who simply viewed him as a precious commodity because of that fact. Could he afford to think of himself in such terms? Could the world afford him not to?  
  
Kaname was a valuable commodity too, in some peoples' eyes.  
  
For Sousuke, she had grown to be more than a mission.  
  
Was that a mistake?  
  
If he did not resume his mission at Jindai High School, Kaname would no doubt still be protected by someone, as long as Mithril felt that the benefits outweighed the cost and the risk.  
  
Would he be able to resume his role as bodyguard?  
  
For how long?  
  
Would he have another emotional scar when he was moved on to his next long term assignment, somewhere other than Tokyo?  
  
Didn't he have a large enough collection of such scars already?  
  
_Pride, Wrath, Hate and Revenge.  
_  
Those had brought him scars.  
  
_Irresponsibilty, Impatience, and Selfishness_.  
  
They had left their mark as well.  
  
There were plenty of soldiers who never learned those lessons, or simply did not care.  
  
His earliest days as an Arm Slave pilot were not all about knights......their horses...... shining armor...... and pretty maidens. He may have taken to thinking of himself as a crusader for justice and freedom, but he had no qualms at using whatever method seemed likely to get the job done. Orders were followed because they set forth a goal that paralleled his own desires and sense of need.  
  
The battle in Guatemala was a wake up call for him.  
  
He had come close to being expelled from Mithril. He might have spent the rest of his life in a foreign prison, if the truths had not been uncovered. Kurz and Melissa had been driven to put their own careers on the line to expose the lies spread by the political criminals..  
  
It could have gone worse than that. The captives had already been killed. But, had they been alive, his attack against orders could have led to their death. He was forced to consider the potential ramifications of his rebellious rush into battle.  
  
Obedience wasn't a shield, however. It did not protect one from sinning or making mistakes.  
  
He had been following orders in Columbia.  
  
Drug runners were routed at their laboratories. Kingpins were dragged from their homes. The enemy forces had been large in number but short on modern war equipment. Even so, the mission had anything but a cake walk.  
  
All of his attention had been focused on the destruction of as many evil men as possible...... the protection of his squad mates...... and his own welfare.  
  
_Arrogance and Self-Righteousness.  
_  
The sheer destructive potential of the M9 had left him drunk on power.  
  
_Prudence, Temperance, and Justice.  
_  
He had made certain to load his weapons with sufficient rounds. There had been no negligence in his pre-fight systems check-ups. But, he had forgotten to pack common sense and the necessary vgilance.  
  
Too intent on chasing and silencing an armored car, he never saw the woman and her baby. In a hurry, he vaulted a series of low huts, landing in what a brief and hurried large scale radar scan had showed was an empty street.  
  
The street had not been empty.  
  
The mangled and bloody remains showed that much. That terrible event, as drastic and unfortunate as it was, eventually served as a teaching point. But it took a while for the lesson to sink in.  
  
Fortunately for him---and the countless men and women who he would fight for across the years---the incident also started Sousuke down a path where he began thinking about the welfare of other people than himself. That journey would take time.  
  
Others would suffer before he reached his destination.  
  
There was no question that he had been acting within mission parameters in Cambodia.  
  
The terrorist base had situated in the middle of a small village, but the villagers were not supporters of the cause. The fighting had been fierce, thanks to clever tricks and traps in the difficult terrain. The battle was taking the lives of innocents---there was no doubt of that. But, the Mithril troops had broadcast a warnings and had allowed some time for escape.  
  
Melissa became pinned down by multiple groups of enemy combatants, heavily armed with ATGMs. Her M9 was stuck, its leg caught in a deep pit.  
  
Sousuke did not bother surveying the surroundings. His eye went quickly and solely to one particular structure. Once he the notion, he acted. The only thing on his mind was rescuing his squad leader, no matter what price he had to pay. There were certain costs he did not have time enough...... or compassion enough...... to reckon.  
  
A huge multi-story tower had been erected, used as an observation point and a platform for snipers and long range interdiction weapons. Kurz had cleaned out that rat's nest early in the battle. The structure stood near the entrenched groups of men threatening Sgt. Major Mao. A number of hits on the nearest legs of the tower---accomplished by volleys of Javelin missiles---brought the edifice crashing down on the enemy.  
  
He had saved Melissa.  
  
The falling tower had also crashed through the roof of the village hospital. Most of the patients had been ambulatory and were gone. But, not all of them. The few that had been too serious to move died that day.  
  
Sousuke thought about Kaname again.  
  
Were his earlier actions around her cut from the same cloth?  
  
Had he inconvenienced her or hurt her by rushing ever onward, oblivious to her thoughts and desires?  
  
Did his slow-growing understanding of her come too late?  
  
Was there any reason she should want to see him again?


	4. Chapter 4

Sousuke was heading deeper underground.  
  
If it hadn't have been for serendipity, he never would have found this lair. The presence of such a den of iniquity disturbed hum. It did nothing more than emphasize man's destructive and cruel nature. Why did it have to be located beneath temples highlighting the heights of mankind's creativity?  
  
The situation had Sousuke thinking about duality.  
  
The Sphinx came to mind. Actually, the subject of sphinxes in general.  
  
Ask some people about the Sphinx, and they will mention the Great Sphinx of Egypt, rediscovered by the Western world when Napoleon's soldiers came across it in the 1700s. Few people were not familiar with the crouching leonine form and its weathered pharoah's head.  
  
But, that was not the only such monument in Egypt---or the world, for that matter. Assyria, amongst other nations, had altars and other structures that depicted creatures with the body of a beast and the head of a man or king.  
  
In Egypt, there had once been countless lesser sphinxes. Some were carved as crouching, meant as guardians against evil. Others were carved as standing, meant to represent conquerors.  
  
To anyone well versed in ancient Greek stories, the first sphinxes were something totally different. Those mythical beasts were ghostlike monsters that carried off children, and who often showed up at the scene of fatal fights. They had been the furthest things from guardians or noble conquerors..  
  
Other individuals, familiar with the better known tale of Oedipus, would know the Sphinx as a terrible rapacious beast plaguing Thebes. That mysterious creature---with the body of a winged lion and the head of a woman---had reportedly frequented the major highway. To each and every person who passed by her lair, the Sphinx asked a singular question: _"What animal is it that in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two feet, and in the evening on three feet?"  
_  
Those who failed to answer her riddle she destroyed.  
  
Oedipus declared the answer to be man himself, who in childhood crawled upon his hands and knees, in manhood stood erect, and in old age shuffled along supporting himself by a staff. Having discovered one who knew the answer to her riddle, the sphinx cast herself from the cliff which bordered the road and perished.  
  
In a sense, Sousuke faced the Sphinx today. The riddle he wrestled with was no less difficult. Could he be a soldier...... fight for the good of mankind...... and still be fit for society?  
  
If he could somehow tone down the characteristics that served him so well in battle...... in order to fit in better at school and other institutions of a civilized society...... would it detract from his prowess as a fighter?  
  
Taking that last question further, he wondered what would happen if he followed Kaname's wishes. If he became more like other 'normal' boys, would it limit his ability to protect her?  
  
Was there some way he could have his cake and eat it too? Could he become more fit as a warrior, as well as better suited for every day life?  
  
He sighed, realizing once again that it may all be a moot point, at least as far as Kaname was concerned.  
  
Head spinning, he sat back and closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a need to rest them.  
  
An image of Kaname appeared. Her own head was gone, replaced by that of Anubis. With each explosion at school, she add more weight to his heart. With every battle he left to fight in, she added still more.  
  
What would happen if she could somehow examine all of the memories he had been inundated with? Would she take the feather away, and let his heart fall into the ever hungry mouth of Ammut?  
  
And If Kaname ever came to mean more to him than she already did.... if he was capable of normasl human feelings...... would he have to choose between Kaname and Mithril?  
  
Could they let him go?  
  
Would she wait?  
  
Was there any way to satisfy them both?

Duality.  
  
Sousuke was distracted when the woman ran out in front of his Arm Slave. Throwing the control lever to the side, he managed to evade her. It had almost been a repeat of dark days gone by. The woman was waving her arms. He turned up the external microphones. She was claiming to be a captive, a forced laborer at the underground base.  
  
He did not see the pistol tucked into the rear of her waistband until too late.  
  
That shouldn't have even been an issue.  
  
His orders had been unambiguous.  
  
_"Kill any f-cking person you see, Sousuke. Anybody down in one of those holes is too dangerous, either in what they have done..... what they possess..... or what they know. This isn't Sunday school. We get no points for being nice. The threat ends, we win. The danger moves elsewhere, we lose."_ Sgt. Major Mao had been brutally direct..  
  
The woman was young, with long dark hair. That, and her contour, reminded Sousuke of Kaname.  
  
His delay wasn't a long one, but it proved more than sufficient.  
  
She was not working alone.  
  
There were two groups of two men each, armed with a medium sized ATGMs and spare missile tubes. The first missile fired before he could get a shot off. The imapact threw his M9 backward sharply. It tumbled ass over teacups, landing on its metallic rump. Sparks shot out from power couplings, and a small trickle of hydraulic fluid trickled down the side of the machine.  
  
His Bofors was thirty feet away from him.  
  
He was dead center in the cross-hairs of the next fire team.  
  
As Sousuke reached back for the Hellbore, the second ATGM team and their weapon exploded, splattered against the walls and floor of the tunnel. The girl had turned an ran, but she too ended up as a grotesque set of bloody hieroglyphics. Soon, the entire force had been obliterated.  
  
"Sitting down on the job, eh Sousuke? Never thought I'd see the day. That will win me a beer from Melissa. Maybe something more. Oh Yeh!!!" It was Kurz.  
  
Sniper rifle out, he had made short work of the terrorists and their helpers. "She WAS cute, amigo. But you picked one Hell of a time to go through puberty!"  
  
Sousuke knew one thing already. The greatest damage he took from this incident was not to his Arm Slave. He would be hearing about this from Kurz for a long time.  
  
Kurz patched in a call to Melissa, who checked in on Sousuke for a mission update and an accounting of the damage he had suffered.  
  
"I have lost 50 percent function in the left arm, but all other systems and weapons are operational. We are about to head into a large expanse. It appears to be a large underground garage and loading area. The scanner shows an number of 18-wheeled trucks..... a pen for camels..... lifting machinery..... and incompletely assembled Arm Slaves of the 'Shadow' type."  
  
Sousuke flipped through various optical devices. "I am picking up a large number of heat sources around the trucks. No doubt the terrorists are in the process of loading cargo."  
  
"Terminate everybody and everything with extreme prejudice. I expect----" The transmission halted for a while, then came back on.  
  
"Destroy all remaining equipment and facilities as quickly as possible. We will need to move out immediately, if not sooner. The ground troops have found a PC and a number of discs detailing names, dates, buyers, and shipment details. We caught them in time, it seems. For the most part." She cursed before going on..  
  
"Aside from those three trucks you intercepted, three additional vehicles left yesterday, They will have been loaded aboard the _William Shouten_, a 25,000 ton container ship registered out of Mauritius. There could be more than one hundred containers on board that ship, making it hard to find the three we want.. If we can't identify the ones we need, it will be necessary to send the entire ship to the bottom."  
  
"But Sis, why don't we wait until the ship reaches the sea and have Da Danaan take her out?" Kurz's question was valid.  
  
"We don't have time. If word of our little shindig here reached the wrong ears, who knows how much stuff they could toss off or smuggle out."  
  
"Why not an air strike...... now...... while the ship is still at anchor?" Sousuke asked the obvious question. "A cruise missile, with a low yield conventional warhead, would also suffice."  
  
"Politics and secrets, Sousuke. The shit we grunts keep our hands clean of. The men in Egypt who helped sneak us into the country did so with one proviso. There can be no large scale and newsworthy attacks on targets like ports, harbors, airports, or points of commerce. Our little skirmish will be easy to cover up. Literally. The desert sands ought to fill in the holes we made." Melissa switched to another channel momentarily, then switched back.  
  
"No more talk. Get to work. I'm heading out at top speed. Follow when you can."  
  
Mithril appeared intent on taking the higher road. They had promised not to attack high visibility targets within Egypt by noticeable means. That meant that they would refrain from doing so. An attack on a single cargo ship..... carried out by unknown forces..... could easily be attributed to some terrorist group or underground faction. But, a strike by aircraft or missile could very easily draw Israel into a situation its hands were actually clean of.  
  
Men who backed Mithril---and kept her secrets---may become less inclined to do so if something like that happened.  
  
Sousuke just hoped that the loss of surprise wouldn't be costly.  
  
Working well as a team, he and Kurz cleaned up the figurative nest of vipers. They headed out quickly, hot on Melissa's heels. The sands clearing, Sousuke turned his viewers to the rear. He got the glimpse of Abu Simbel that he had always wished for as they were heading out.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
The waterway was swarming with Egyptian troops.  
  
They had been anonymously summoned to prevent the escape of terrorists and an unknown hazardous compound. A number of suspicious characters had been shot when they put up a resistance. At the order of top brass, the materials they carried were dropped into the Nile.  
  
The men on the ship _William Shouten_ put up a fierce fight. They had heavy weapons and countless places to hide. Even as the battle heightened, reports came in that numerous small ships were converging on the area. The armed forces did not have the equipment or manpower needed to intercept or sink all such craft. Aircraft were being scrambled, but it would take a while for them to arrive on the scene.  
  
A number of helicopters tried to pick up small crates and bundles brought out by the combatants. Snipers took down the men. Heavy machine gun fire, and the concentrated firepower of a squad of infantry soldiers took down one copter. The other turned tail and fled.  
  
Just as the small boats neared the container ship, a loud explosion rocked the larger vessel, causing it to list violently to one side. More explosions followed, this time involving the approaching group of small boats. At first the Egyptian forces thought that the extremist group was trying to sink the ship, to prevent anyone from taking possession of their precious cargo. But that didn't make any sense, unless the small boats were a rival group.  
  
Smoke trails and missiles streaked away from the superstructure of the ship. But, where were they coming from? There was nothing there! The sun was bright in that direction. The missile must be coming from elsewhere else, passing by that point. What other explanation could their be.  
  
For a moment, one soldier thought he saw the glowing outline of a giant man-like shape in the glare of the sun. He was quickly laughed down by all of his comrades.  
  
Melissa did what she could with her one M9. She didn't know how much longer she could lay down effective fire without giving away her position. She had no idea how the Army might react. Faced with something they could not see and did not understand, they might assume it was a threat. Also, if anything happened to her ECS, she would be a sitting duck, and there would be a more concrete mystery for the authorities to pursue.  
  
"Urzu 6, Urzu 7, come in. Do you read?"  
  
"We read you, babe. Don't get your knickers in a not. Before you it, the amazing Kurz Weber will be on the scene. I've brought the not-so-amazing Sousuke Sagara with me as comic relief. Ask him about the girl."  
  
"Cut the crap, Weber. What's your ETA?"  
  
"I don't think I'll tell you...." Kurz' joking would earn him a royal beating. "You didn't say the magic word."  
  
"_Weber!_"  
  
"We are three to five minutes away, Sgt. Major. We need to move warily. There are heavy concentrations of troops on the move. We cannot use the roadway." Sousuke earned himself a ringside seat.  
  
"Alright. I'm up to my eyeballs in shit here, boys. You get here in under ten minutes and I'll buy you each a beer. Kurz, you'll need to drink it through a straw after they wire your jaw back together."  
  
"You see what I've been telling you about women, Sousuke?" Kurz switched to a channel that excluded Urzu 2. He hurdled a number of open-backed troop trucks, causing the men to wonder at the strange shadow passing overhead. "They get upset over nothing."  
  
"I see. How long will beer keep?" Sousuke asked. "Does it taste good through a straw?" The wind of his passage blew the hat off of a startled Egyptian officer.  
  
"Whose side are you on, Sousuke?" Sgt. Weber's M9 slid on some loose sand, causing it to teeter momentarily to one side. To one observer, it appeared as if a stand of palm trees bent over for no particular reason.  
  
"And here I was about to tell you some news I just got in about Kaname...."  
  
Souske's M9 zigged when it should have zagged. Kurz' statement had caused the young pilot to jerk his arms involuntarily. A small hut looked to have collapsed in on itself.  
  
"_Kaname?_"Sousuke cursed the overanxious sound of his voice.  
  
He needed to stay in control.  
  
"Nope. Not until I know that you are on _my_ side, _not_ Melissa's." Kurz' voice was smug. He was having fun. The city was clearly visible. They would probably win those beers.  
  
"But, the Sgt. Major..." Sousuke leaped over a string of camels, causing them to tug at their ropes, dragging men along the hot sands.  
  
"Doesn't have time to tell you. I got the word straight from her, while you were busy playing the naïve little soldier. No matter. The information will wait until we sink that ship..... meet up with our barge..... and head on back up river." Kurz' laugh was infuriating. "Of course, it could take longer. We haven't heard from the team at Deir al-Madinah yet. If we have to head over there to lend a hand, it could be quite a while."  
  
"But...."  
  
"And who says if I can remember things that long. I might even get an official order not to divulge what I know. Wouldn't that be a shame. No rush though. No doubt you'll find out some day." Kurz exchanged clips in the M9's sniper rifle. He had serious stuff to deal with too.  
  
It was time to play it close now.  
  
The fastest way into the city was along the road. They would need to continue at top speed, avoiding the trucks and light armored vehicles heading in the same direction.

That was not the reason for Sousuke's silence.  
  
"Sousuke?" Kurz' voice carried a hint of impatience.  
  
Sousuke did not reply.  
  
"Sousuke, are you still there?" Why wasn't that overly serious numbskull playing along?  
  
"Yes." That was all that Sousuke said. He may not be as crafty as Sgt. Weber, but he was slowly learning how to pull on someone's strings.  
  
"Well? Don't you want to know? I would think you'd be chomping at the bit!" Kurz sounded gleeful again.  
  
"No." Sousuke's Arm Slaves passed a number of slower moving vehicles. He could see plumes of smoke rising into the sky. They were getting close.  
  
"Come on Sousuke, you _know_ you like her, at least a little bit. If you stay away too long, she might find another reckless destructive indestructible O-O-C young stud. Now, you wouldn't want _that_ to happen, would you?" Kurz' laughter ended when he heard Sousuke's answer.  
  
"It might be best for her." Sousuke's voice was flat.  
  
The seconds of silence seemed like years.  
  
"I don't think so, Sousuke. And I have a reason to feel that way. But, since you aren't eager to find out, I'm _not_ going to tell you." Kurz was uncertain how to proceed. Sousuke sounded seriously depressed. More so than his usuall taciturn self.  
  
"As you wish. It is not a problem." Sousuke was not in the mood for joking. Not that he was ever really in the mood for joking.  
  
"Well, whether you know it not.... you got it bad Sousuke.... _r-e-a-l_ bad. Now listen up. This one is for free. Even the great Kurz Weber has problems with the ladies sometimes. If you don't get things straight, the stuff inside of you might ruin your effectiveness as a soldier." Kurz was only being half-serious, but Sousuke's answer showed that he had been thinking along those lines already.  
  
"I believe you are correct. It may not matter. I may be reassigned. Her reaction to me may nullify my usefulness."  
  
"O, I don't think so, Sousuke old chum. In any case, I think you need some extensive woman therapy. There are a number of fine brothels in Cairo. I'll talk to Melissa. Maybe I can convince her to _order_ you to get to know some of the ladies really well." Kurz chuckled. "Now what I mean?"  
  
Sousuke did not answer. He began to sweat. Even though he was 98.9 per cent certain Kurz was joking.  
  
"Of course, if you _do_ come back to Da Danaan, Tessa will be waiting for you. If I clue her in, I bet _she'd_ be glad to be the one who belly dances for you. Oh yeh!!!" Kurz began humming a famous Arabian burlesque tune.  
  
"That...."  
  
"I'll do it Sousuke. You _know_ I'll will. So, do you want to know? Better hurry up. We're almost there. Do you want to know about Kaname...... or are you holding out for Tessa and the seven veils?" Kurz started whistling.  
  
"You may tell me." The words came out in a rush. Sousuke clenched his teeth afterwards. He was playing right into his companion's hands.  
  
"O, ho ho! First we need to talk price. Will you promise to protect me from the evil Dr. Fu Mao Chu?" Kurz sounded just like a riverboat huckster. He had a ready made sucker ready to buy his whole stock of snake oil.  
  
"I cannot. She is my commanding officer."  
  
"Too bad. If Tessa gets all excited and orders you to kiss her, what are you going to do? What if she takes those veils off first?" Kurz could just picture it. "_7...... 6...... 5..... 4...... 3...... 2......_ _1......._ oh my my my!!!!"  
  
"MY BEER!" Necessity is the mother of invention. "You may have my beer in addition to yours." Sousuke wasn't much into srinking anyway. But, as emotional drained as he felt, he might have made tonight an exception.  
  
"_Deal!_"Kurz passed along the news.  
  
Mithril had a number of operatives in New York City. Political pull arranged for one of them to arrange for an immediate job at Childrens' Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.  
  
Ayame had gotten over her hurdles.  
  
It looked as if she was going to be fine.


	5. Chapter 5

Things went smoothly once Urzu 6 and Urzu 7 reached the scene. The cargo ship took on water quickly, its hull pierced by a large number of missiles. For no visible reason the Egyptian troops or dock workers could tell, the containers on top burst into flame, putting off great clouds of black smoke until the fires hissed on contact with the water.  
  
The target sunk, the three Mithril pilots moved their machines off towards the pick up point. Word had come in from the other team. Their mission had been an unqualified success.  
  
It was time for everyone to head home.  
  
Sousuke had been offered a chance to go to New York, to resume his duties as Kaname's bodyguard there. He declined. It would not feel right for him. He listened with relief---but also some trepidation---when he was told that he would pick up with his Tokyo mission just where he had left off.  
  
He would fly back to Japan as soon as the long debriefing was done.  
  
Melissa had ordered Kurz to keep one thing secret from Sousuke. He surprised her---and himself---by maintaining that secrecy. The operative in New York had made himself known to Kaname. She had been very concerned about Sousuke, wanting to know if there was any word on him. Sgt. Major Mao firmly believed that seeing something for yourself sometimes shows a person more than words might get across.  
  
Besides, Sousuke had been moping around altogether too much. He needed a good shock to the system.  
  
The exit meetings went well. The mission as a whole had accomplished everything it could have. But, as it turned out, they had gotten there too late to prevent one catastrophe. Word came in from South Korea. Large numbers of people were sick or dying in Seoul. Someone had no doubt snuck out at least one small test shipment earlier. They could only hope that was the only one.  
  
Only time would tell.  
  
Mithril would send covert information to the South Korean officials. Without knowing what to look for, they would not know to test for Amanitin. As usual, their success in this mission would make its way to the ears of men in power. The coffers would stay full a bit longer.  
  
Unfortunate as the poisoning in Seoul was, it would serve as a great example of what could have happened if those facilities hadn't been shut down permanently. There was no way that the Egyptian Armed forces could have moved in a quickly or stealthily as the Mithril troops had. The sovereign forces might have eventually stemmed the flow of the deadly substance, but significant amounts would have reached men who had no compulsion against using it.  
  
The plane ride back to Tokyo was not a pleasant one for Sousuke. He had opened up a lot of painful memories during the days in Egypt. Though he felt a renewed confidence in the work he did, he still had significant doubts. There was still more thinking to be done.  
  
When he dozed off, he dreamed. He saw an image of Anubis. The jackal-headed god was laughing. It threw his heart to the Devourer, then spoke. "I love you, Kashim!"  
  
That startled Sousuke straight out of his sleep. Despite that shock, he dozed off again. This time he saw the Sphinx. It had Kaname's head. She too spoke: "What is a jerk on four legs... a moron on two.... and a big idiot on three?" A great paw came sweeping towards his head.  
  
He woke up again.  
  
His dreams were mixing together. His thoughts were tied up in knots. It was still the weekend. There must be some way to get his mind in order again before school on Monday.  
  
He knew just the thing.  
  
_Fishing.  
_  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
Sousuke gathered what he needed for his excursion.  
  
He would head out to Ookagou, Hachijo-machi. The beach has a unique landscape with a rocky expanse formed by the lava discharged into the sea by the eruption of Mt. Hachijo-Fuji. There is a good view of Hachijo-Kojima across the waters from this beach which is also a popular site for surf fishing.  
  
Just as he was about to head out the door, the bell rang. He set his equipment aside, out of view. Looking out the view port, his breath caught in his throat. It was Kaname. What did she want. Had she come over to order him to stay away from her? There was no box lunch in sight. She held a long wooden staff.  
  
"I know you're in there, Sousuke. You'd better open up if you know what's good for you." Her voice was firm, strong.  
  
Sousuke knew what would happen if he delayed too long. He opened the door.  
  
"Kaname?"  
  
"Yes, Kaname. Do you know anyone else who looks like me? _HMMPPFF!!!_" Her words briefly brough to mind the errorist girl in the tunnel. He shook it off. Kaname caught his action, but held her tongue.  
  
"I had word that your sister would be OK. I was glad to hear that." He bowed his head, finding it hard to speak. Looking down, he noted a flash of gold at Kaname's wrist. It was the bracelet he had given to her. It was part of the jewelry that she had thrown out into the hall.  
  
"Well, Sousuke?" Kaname began banging the staff against the door frame.  
  
"Kaname?"  
  
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Kaname did not sound angry.  
  
"Yes. I am sorry. Please come in." Sousuke closed the door and asked if Kaname would like anything to drink.  
  
As soon as the door closed, and they were isolated in their own space, Kaname's face changed. Tears came to her eyes. Her shoulders trembled. She threw herself into Sousuke's arms and began sobbing. "I'm sorry, Sousuke._ So_ sorry."  
  
"For what, Kaname?" Sousuke didn't know what to do. Kaname was not attempting to be affectionate. That would have confused him even more. Still, he did not know what he could do to comfort her.  
  
Kaname backed away and wiped her finger across her eyes. "I said some terrible things, Sousuke. _Terrible_ things."  
  
"You were upset, Kaname. You were not yourself." Sousuke felt better. Still, there was a catch in his voice. He had been through too much to have an apology bring him back to where he was before.  
  
"Thank you, Sousuke. Those words... they...they would have been wrong no matter had happened. They would be terrible no matter what." She looked deeply into Sousuke's eyes, trying to regain some composure.

"I saw the news, Sousuke. About Seoul. Can you tell me---was that the poison you were worried about?"  
  
"Yes," Sousuke said after a long pause. He could trust Kaname.  
  
"My God. But there won't be any more?" Kaname's eyes were intense.  
  
"I hope not. Both facilities were completely destroyed. No one is certain how much they may have taken out before we got there,"  
  
"I see. You are a hero, Sousuke. I never should have said what I did." The tears came to her eyes again.  
  
"I am not a hero, Kaname. At least, I do not feel heroic. I did what I was trained to do. I did what I was ordered to do. It was what needed to be done." He went quiet for a moment. His hands twitched.

"I have more blood on my hands, Kaname." He looked away.  
  
"YOU LOOK HERE MISTER!" Kaname's spunk returned when she saw Sousuke's mood turn south.  
  
Sousuke looked at Kaname.  
  
"You are a hero to _me_, Sousuke." Kaname spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. She took one of his hands. "Your hand looks clean to me." She patted it and let it go. It was her turn to look down at the floor.  
  
Sousuke didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. For a moment, the silence grew awkward.  
  
"I wanted to apologize." Kaname bowed and held out the thick staff. Sousuke took it. It was surprisingly light---it must be hollow.  
  
Melissa had phoned ahead, letting Kaname know when Sousuke would be arriving. It didn't take her long to figure out what gift might mean something to the young soldier.  
  
Sousuke opened the 'staff.' It was a fishing rod case. Inside it was a Shimano Surfleader FV carbon composite rod. A nice piece.  
  
"Thank you Kaname. It is well chosen. It will mean a lot to me."  
  
"_Great_. Then, when are you going to take me fishing again, Sousuke?" She meant it as a reference to their time together after the Gauron incident. Saying that, she happened to look over and see the gear that Sousuke had placed aside. Her eyes widened.  
  
Kaname smiled. Sousuke came close to smiling.  
  
"Would you like to go to the beach, Kaname?"  
  
"You know a girl's thoughts _always_ go towards the beach, Sousuke...."  
  
"Affirmative."  
  
"Will there be anything weird?"  
  
"No." Sousuke knew this routine.  
  
"Anything dangerous?"  
  
"No." He thought of a twist to throw in.  
  
Kaname walked up and stared Sousuke in the eyes. "Will Tessa be there?"

She had beat him to it.  
  
Sousuke walked over to the phone. He picked up the receiver. "Do you want her to be?" He began dialing at random.  
  
"Don't you dare!!!" She yelled, laughing.  
  
"It is not a problem." he put the phone back down.  
  
"Well then, we will need to stop by my place so I can get a few things." Kaname headed back to the door.  
  
"You look fine as you are. I have an extra set of boots." Sousuke went to a closet, opened it, and started removing items.  
  
"Sousuke, you do NOT ask a girl to go surf-fishing in an outfit like this!" Kaname spun around once, then posed.  
  
"It looks to have adequate functionality, Kaname...." Sousuke felt proud. He had avoided using the word 'practical.'  
  
"SOUSUKE!!!" Sousuke did not mind that shout. He was glad he could hear it again.  
  
"As you say, Kaname."  
  
"Good. We will also need to stop at a bait shop. We will need to find something to catch a whale with. You owe me a whale, Sousuke." She tossed her hair.  
  
"There may be no whales there."  
  
"I said a whale, mister. Do I need to get the halisen as well? It might fit in that case." She made a show of looking at the case's diameter.  
  
"I will see what I can do."  
  
Kaname smiled.


End file.
